Overview
Beth Clark's practice focuses on complex life, health and property/casualty insurance and reinsurance matters, and includes representing a diverse group of companies in disputes in federal and state court, before arbitration panels and before state insurance regulators. During her over two-decades of practice, these disputes and her representations have involved areas such as YRT rate increases, life insurance underwriting, COVID-19 insurance and reinsurance coverage, captive reinsurance arrangements, financial guarantee insurance, long-tail environmental coverage claims, misrepresentations in connection with the placement of reinsurance and retrocessional agreements, allocation of asbestos and environmental pollution losses, surety bond losses, bad faith exception to the late notice/prejudice rule, the protection afforded under reinsurance and retrocessional agreements, the accumulation of loss under both property and casualty reinsurance contracts, standards of conduct applicable to ceding companies in dealing with reinsurers, disputes with program managers, and broker negligence.
Beth also advises clients on insurance regulatory matters involving such issues as financial guarantee insurance and reinsurance, requirements for direct procurement of insurance, licensing requirements, guarantees of repayment of non-affiliated entities under debt instruments, unfair claim settlement practices, and payment of claims utilizing non-traditional claims payment methods.
Ms. Clark has also represented ceding companies in connection with their efforts to review and revise contract terms to ensure they have received the protections desired and avoid future disputes.
- New York
- Hon. Charles L. Brieant, US District Court, Southern District of New York, 2001-2002
- J.D., Fordham University School of Law, 1999, Order of the Coif; Member, Fordham Law Review
- B.A., University of Wisconsin, 1995
Representative Matters
- Life insurance company in disputes with several reinsurers over YRT reinsurance premiums.
- Life insurance company in a dispute with a reinsurer seeking to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in YRT reinsurance coverage for alleged underwriting issues related to term and universal life insurance policies.
- Insurance company in a contested liquidation proceeding brought by state insurance regulator.
- Insurance company in article 78 proceedings challenging authority of state insurance regulator.
- Ceding companies against reinsurers in connection with catastrophe losses ceded under whole account treaties.
- Ceding companies against reinsurers relating to asbestos and environmental pollution claims.
- Ceding Companies in arbitrations with reinsurers over World Trade Center property and aviation claims.
- Ceding companies against reinsurers in connection with issues of late notice, prejudice and the bad faith exception to the prejudice rule.
- Financial guaranty insurers in disputes with reinsurers relating to CDO/CDS deals involving RMBS and CMBS transactions.
- Ceding companies in arbitrations against reinsurers relating to surety bonds and financial guarantees.
- Ceding company against a reinsurer seeking rescission of a property catastrophe treaty.
- An insurer in dispute with broker concerning failure to procure appropriate reinsurance protections.
- Litigation on behalf of a ceding company enjoining a reinsurer from collaterally attacking a final arbitration award (Arrowood Indemnity Co. v. Equitas Ins. Ltd., No. 13 cv 7680, 2015 WL 4597543, * 1 (S.D.N.Y. July 30, 2015)).
News & Publications
Professional Affiliations
- AIDA-US Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS)
- American Bar Association
- Association of Insurance & Reinsurance Run-off Companies (AIRROC)
- New York Bar Association