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| Practice: | Reinsurance Arbitration and Litigation; Insurance Insolvency; Business Litigation; Appellate |
| | Experience: | Ira is a partner with more than 20 years of experience in reinsurance arbitration and complex business litigation. He has tried numerous disputes involving traditional and finite reinsurance, addressing such issues as:
• The consolidation of arbitrations arising out of multiple treaties;
• The aggregation of asbestos claims, and the number of occurrences in other environmental claims;
• The notice required for termination of an MGA agreement;
• The insurability of claims for punitive damages;
• The interpretation of guaranteed minimum death and income benefit reinsurance agreements;
• The application of treaty ultimate net loss clauses to policy supplementary payments provisions; and
• Risk transfer and the interpretation of sublimits, termination clauses, and other provisions found in finite reinsurance clauses.
Ira has also represented reinsurers in connection with the Midland, Pine Top, and Transit insolvencies.
In addition to his representation of clients as counsel, Ira has testified as an expert witness before the High Court of Justice in London on questions of U.S. insurance law.
Ira's business litigation practice focuses on complex commercial cases, including enforcement of restrictive covenants, actions under the Uniform Commercial Code, and other contract disputes. He has also argued appeals successfully before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the Illinois Appellate Court, and the Illinois Human Rights Commission.
Ira joined Butler Rubin after clerking for the Hon. Bernard M. Decker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and practicing for several years at Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw.
Ira has been recognized as a leading lawyer in reinsurance litigation by Chambers USA - America's Leading Lawyers for Business and as a leader in insurance law in the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. |
| | Significant Reported Cases: | Kemper Reinsurance Co. v. Corcoran, 79 N.Y.2d 252 (1992) (New York's high court upheld reinsurer's right of offset against estate of insolvent insurer)
Hartford Fire Insurance Co. v. Lloyd's Syndicate 0056 ASH, No. 3:97CV00009 (D. Conn. July 2, 1997) (federal court held that New York Convention preempted contrary state law, and confirmed arbitration award to cedent of ECO coverage for bad-faith punitive damages on ground that arbitration clause in reinsurance contracts relieved arbitrators from following strict rules of law)
Selvy v. Beigel, 309 Ill. App. 3d 768 (1st Dist. 1999) (Appellate Court of Illinois ruled that where defendant failed to meet the legal requirements for vacatur of default judgment, the trial court did not have discretion to vacate on basis of equity, and court upheld default judgment of $1.75 million in favor of children poisoned by lead paint) |
| | Bar Admissions: | Ira is admitted to practice in Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (where he is a member of the trial bar), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. |
| | Industry Involvement: | A member of the AIDA-U.S. Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS-U.S.), Ira has been a speaker at ARIAS functions as well as at the Mealey's Insurance Insolvency and Reinsurance Roundtable. From 1990-94, he served as Secretary-Treasurer of the U.S. Chapter of the International Association of Insurance Law (AIDA-U.S.). |
| | Articles: | Negotiating Your Arbitration Agreement to Control the Expense and Parameters of Arbitrations, Business Litigation Committee Newsletter, Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice, American Bar Association, Fall 2008 (expanded version)
Negotiating Your Arbitration Agreement to Control the Expense and Parameters of Arbitrations, Corporate Counsel, October 2008
| | Speeches: | Breakout Session Leader, ARIAS U.S. Fall Conference and Annual Meeting, November 2008
Investigations of Side-Deal Allegations in Finite Risk Transactions, Reinsurance Contracts: The Art of Designing Reinsurance Contracts & Programs Seminar, Reinsurance Association of America, July 2006
Obtaining or Preventing Discovery in Arbitration, American Conference Institute's Legal and Strategic Guide to Reinsurance Arbitrations Seminar, May and September 2005
Introducing Evidence During Arbitrations, American Conference Institute's Legal and Strategic Guide to Reinsurance Arbitrations Seminar, May 2005
Co-Chair and Speaker on Issues Surrounding the London Broker, London Market Practices Seminar, September 2004 |
| | Education: | J.D., University of Chicago Law School, 1987- Co-Chief of Cases, Hinton Moot Court Committee
- Student-Attorney, Mandel Legal Aid Clinic
B.A., summa cum laude, Columbia University, 1984- Phi Beta Kappa
- Captain, Columbia Forensics Team
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| | Personal: | Ira lives in Chicago with his wife, Beth, who chairs the breast oncology division at Cook County Hospital, and their daughter, Maya. Ira, Beth, and Maya demonstrate their loyalty, resilience, and eternal optimism by continuing to root for the Cubs, Bears, and Bulls. |
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