Overview
The National Law Journal has selected Steptoe as the winner of its 2015 Washington Litigation Department of the Year in insurance. The selection was based on a measurement of the litigation departments in the nation’s capital to determine the best in a handful of practices.
Over the past 18 months, Steptoe’s insurance practice has secured a number of litigation victories, including an appellate win for Travelers in a contamination liability and bad faith case before the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The group also scored a decisive win for AIG before the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in an $11 million business interruption claim made by a company whose manufacturing business was disrupted after an explosion at a natural gas supplier in Australia. The win for AIG was one of six appellate victories Steptoe has secured for the carrier over the past two years.
In a profile published June 29, the editors cite the longevity of Steptoe’s insurance practice as one of the keys of its success as many of the litigation partners have represented their clients for longer than their clients’ in-house counsel have worked there. That institutional memory combined with a “depth of experience and an upright reputation” attracts and maintains clients who need legal help across a broad range of disputes and who face a constant stream of litigation.
The profile also touches on the evolution of Steptoe’s insurance practice from the 1970’s, when toxic torts litigation first boomed. Today, along with cases involving asbestos, pollution, hazardous products, and environmental disasters, the group handles professional liability, and the fast-developing areas of insurance involving cybersecurity and climate change.
The Litigation Department of the Year award is the latest in a string of recognitions Steptoe’s Insurance and Reinsurance Group has received. In January, for the second consecutive year, the group was named a Law360 Insurance Group of the Year. More recently, the practice received high rankings in the 2015 editions of Chambers USA and The Legal 500 US.
Read the full profile of Steptoe at The National Law Journal (subscription required).