Practices
Life, Health & Disability Insurance
Sedgwick is recognized as a leader in providing legal services to the life, health and disability insurance industry. Our national team of attorneys regularly provides counseling and handles litigated disputes involving all aspects of life, health and disability insurance. Our attorneys have a wealth of knowledge in this area gained from years of representing insurers throughout the country.
Sedgwick is recognized as a leader in providing legal services to the life, health and disability insurance industry. Our national team of attorneys regularly provides counseling and handles litigated disputes involving all aspects of life, health and disability insurance. Our attorneys have a wealth of knowledge in this area gained from years of representing insurers throughout the country.
Our attorneys work closely with the firm’s Healthcare and Employment & Labor practice groups, as well as with our Insurance Practices Group and trial attorneys from various disciplines, and leverage the expertise throughout the firm to the benefit of our clients. While known for our representation of companies within the insurance industry, Sedgwick represents companies from a range of business sectors, including pharmaceutical, chemical, automobile, aircraft and consumer product, among others. Our consequent knowledge of these industries provides additional insight into the business issues at stake in insurance related disputes, making us more effective in pursuing negotiations or more aggressive litigation tactics.
Sedgwick is a trial and litigation law firm. Our lawyers are trial lawyers – many of whom have tried dozens, and in some instances hundreds, of cases – and are in court trying jury and non-jury cases around the country every day. Our reputation for strength inside the courtroom also enables us to be more effective in pursuing negotiated settlements or alternative dispute resolution strategies.
Areas of Expertise
ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) Claims Representation
Sedgwick attorneys defend insurers, employee benefit plans, and fiduciaries in ERISA claims and fiduciary litigation in trial and appellate courts throughout the country. Our practice encompasses both welfare benefit and pension plans. Sedgwick has significant class action experience and has defeated putative class actions brought by ERISA welfare benefit plan participants and others. Sedgwick attorneys also defend Department of Labor (DOL) investigations for breach of fiduciary duties and other alleged plan and fiduciary failures, and negotiate reductions or eliminations of DOL penalties.
Non-ERISA Claims Representation
Sedgwick attorneys provide counseling and aggressive defense to our clients in non-ERISA insurance matters, including life insurance, health insurance and disability insurance issues. Our attorneys litigate claims alleging policy breach and breaches of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. We provide our clients with effective and efficient resolutions of such disputes, and counsel clients as to how best to position themselves to avoid such problems in the future.
Our attorneys have successfully employed their oral advocacy skills on behalf of insurers in numerous ERISA cases. However, our attorneys’ abilities in the courtroom are even more evident in non-ERISA litigation, with its added complexities of juries and witness testimony. Our firm’s national reputation as a trial firm serves our clients well, since our opponents know that Sedgwick lawyers can and do try jury cases regularly.
Commercial (Non-Claims) Litigation
Sedgwick attorneys litigate other types of disputes impacting the life, health, and disability insurance industry, including matters relating to sales practices, agent and broker issues, suitability, investment portfolios, unfair competition, fiduciary duty issues, fraud and misrepresentation, rescission, pension plans, financial planning, annuity, broker commission practices, disputes over distribution of benefits, and contractual disputes. We have extensive experience in defending class actions and representative actions (e.g., Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 claims). Our attorneys bring their extensive trial experience to bear when representing insurers in this type of litigation.
Coverage
Sedgwick represents primary and excess insurers, and provides coverage advice in matters involving directors and officers insurance, professional liability insurance, fiduciary liability insurance, and employment practices insurance, including providing advice and counsel to insurers regarding securities actions, ERISA class actions, and ERISA fiduciary class actions involving Fortune 500 manufacturing firms and service industries.
Employee Benefit Transactions Experience
Sedgwick’s Employee Benefits Practice Group provides our clients a well-rounded, comprehensive understanding of employee benefit transactions and counseling that complements the firm’s extensive litigation experience. Our attorneys design, implement and administer ESOPs, pension plans, profit sharing plans and 401(k) plans, and advise clients with respect to the structuring of ESOP transactions and issues governed by ERISA.
Attorneys in the group have benefit consulting backgrounds that enable them to provide our clients an invaluable business perspective when structuring ESOPs, counseling clients on ERISA compliance matters and when teaming with Sedgwick’s experienced trial attorneys to quickly resolve employee benefit disputes.
Sedgwick is recognized as a leader in providing legal services to the life, health and disability insurance industry. Our national team of attorneys regularly provides counseling and handles litigated disputes involving all aspects of life, health and disability insurance. Our attorneys have a wealth of knowledge in this area gained from years of representing insurers throughout the country.
Our attorneys work closely with the firm’s Healthcare and Employment & Labor practice groups, as well as with our Insurance Practices Group and trial attorneys from various disciplines, and leverage the expertise throughout the firm to the benefit of our clients. While known for our representation of companies within the insurance industry, Sedgwick represents companies from a range of business sectors, including pharmaceutical, chemical, automobile, aircraft and consumer product, among others. Our consequent knowledge of these industries provides additional insight into the business issues at stake in insurance related disputes, making us more effective in pursuing negotiations or more aggressive litigation tactics.
Sedgwick is a trial and litigation law firm. Our lawyers are trial lawyers – many of whom have tried dozens, and in some instances hundreds, of cases – and are in court trying jury and non-jury cases around the country every day. Our reputation for strength inside the courtroom also enables us to be more effective in pursuing negotiated settlements or alternative dispute resolution strategies.
Areas of Expertise
ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) Claims Representation
Sedgwick attorneys defend insurers, employee benefit plans, and fiduciaries in ERISA claims and fiduciary litigation in trial and appellate courts throughout the country. Our practice encompasses both welfare benefit and pension plans. Sedgwick has significant class action experience and has defeated putative class actions brought by ERISA welfare benefit plan participants and others. Sedgwick attorneys also defend Department of Labor (DOL) investigations for breach of fiduciary duties and other alleged plan and fiduciary failures, and negotiate reductions or eliminations of DOL penalties.
Non-ERISA Claims Representation
Sedgwick attorneys provide counseling and aggressive defense to our clients in non-ERISA insurance matters, including life insurance, health insurance and disability insurance issues. Our attorneys litigate claims alleging policy breach and breaches of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. We provide our clients with effective and efficient resolutions of such disputes, and counsel clients as to how best to position themselves to avoid such problems in the future.
Our attorneys have successfully employed their oral advocacy skills on behalf of insurers in numerous ERISA cases. However, our attorneys’ abilities in the courtroom are even more evident in non-ERISA litigation, with its added complexities of juries and witness testimony. Our firm’s national reputation as a trial firm serves our clients well, since our opponents know that Sedgwick lawyers can and do try jury cases regularly.
Commercial (Non-Claims) Litigation
Sedgwick attorneys litigate other types of disputes impacting the life, health, and disability insurance industry, including matters relating to sales practices, agent and broker issues, suitability, investment portfolios, unfair competition, fiduciary duty issues, fraud and misrepresentation, rescission, pension plans, financial planning, annuity, broker commission practices, disputes over distribution of benefits, and contractual disputes. We have extensive experience in defending class actions and representative actions (e.g., Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 claims). Our attorneys bring their extensive trial experience to bear when representing insurers in this type of litigation.
Coverage
Sedgwick represents primary and excess insurers, and provides coverage advice in matters involving directors and officers insurance, professional liability insurance, fiduciary liability insurance, and employment practices insurance, including providing advice and counsel to insurers regarding securities actions, ERISA class actions, and ERISA fiduciary class actions involving Fortune 500 manufacturing firms and service industries.
Employee Benefit Transactions Experience
Sedgwick’s Employee Benefits Practice Group provides our clients a well-rounded, comprehensive understanding of employee benefit transactions and counseling that complements the firm’s extensive litigation experience. Our attorneys design, implement and administer ESOPs, pension plans, profit sharing plans and 401(k) plans, and advise clients with respect to the structuring of ESOP transactions and issues governed by ERISA.
Attorneys in the group have benefit consulting backgrounds that enable them to provide our clients an invaluable business perspective when structuring ESOPs, counseling clients on ERISA compliance matters and when teaming with Sedgwick’s experienced trial attorneys to quickly resolve employee benefit disputes.
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