HarrisMartin's Superstorm Sandy Insurance Coverage Litigation Conference Speaker Profiles

Jay focuses his practice on representing policyholders in disputes with insurance companies involving all types of insurance coverage. Jay has extensive litigation experience in multi-million dollar property insurance coverage cases, including suits involving policy construction and application, cause and origin, valuation, and business interruption issues. He has assisted clients in successfully resolving eight and nine figure Hurricane Katrina cases without litigation, and successfully representing other policyholders in litigating Katrina cases. He has also litigated significant professional liability and general liability coverage cases. In the Directors and Officers liability area, Jay actively works with clients to resolve all types of disputes, including application of exclusions and allocation issues. Jay has also arbitrated cases before the American Arbitration Association and in private binding arbitration. Most of his litigated cases involve allegations of bad faith and he is well-versed in that area, as well.

Jay is an experienced appellate lawyer with almost thirty years of experience in briefing and arguing appeals in state and federal court. In addition to insurance coverage cases, Jay has argued cases involving indemnity agreements, case dispositive procedural issues, tort liability and criminal law.

Jay also counsels policyholders in non-litigation contexts. He analyzes coverage after a loss has occurred or claim has been made to assist policyholders in presenting the claim to the insurance carrier. He assists policyholders in responding to inquiries and in pointing out errors in the carrier’s coverage position in order to avoid litigating insurance claims, including, inter alia stat, first-party, professional liability, EPL, D & O, and general liability claims. Jay also counsels clients and evaluates coverage in connection with policy renewals, primarily in property, D&O and professional liability insurance.

Jay is an editor and contributing author of the Property Insurance Litigator's Handbook, which was published by the American Bar Association in 2007. He frequently speaks on insurance coverage and has spoken at dozens of programs sponsored by, inter alia, the ABA, American Conference Institute, PLI, Mealey’s, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Urban Land Institute, and other organizations. He also provides continuing education programs for lawyers and other professionals through Reed Smith University and other organizations. He was the 2007-2008 Chair of the TTIPS Property Insurance Law Committee.

Steve Goldman is a nationally recognized trial lawyer with 30 years of experience litigating and trying a diverse range of cases throughout the United States. During that time, Mr. Goldman has served as counsel for insurers in many of the country’s most significant property insurance coverage cases, including, most recently, Sher v. Lafayette Insurance Company (upholding the flood exclusion in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina), Landry v. Louisiana Citizens Insurance Company (holding Louisiana’s Valued Policy Law inapplicable to certain Katrina-related claims), and Streamline Capital v. Hartford Insurance (refusing to adopt the time necessary to rebuild the World Trade Center as the “period of restoration” for WTC tenants). As an advocate and advisor for international and domestic insurance carriers and insurance industry organizations, he has handled numerous high-impact cases arising from catastrophes such as Hurricanes Katrina and Andrew, the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and the anthrax scare in 2001. Mr. Goldman has appeared as counsel in trial and appellate courts in 22 states and has aggressively litigated and, in many instances, tried high-exposure cases throughout the Northeast and in jurisdictions as diverse as Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Iowa. He also has significant experience litigating class actions, especially those based on insurance coverage issues and insurer market conduct.

Mr. Goldman is a prolific speaker on insurance coverage, litigation, and ethics matters and has published numerous papers on these subjects. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Insurance Law since 2006 (Copyright 2012 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC). Mr. Goldman has also been named to the Connecticut Super Lawyers® list in the area of Insurance Coverage since 2006 and the Top 50 Connecticut Super Lawyers® for 2010 (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.).

Gerard H. Hanson is a partner in the Princeton, N.J. office of Hill Wallack LLP and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He is partner-in-charge of the firm’s Insurance Coverage, Product Liability and Trial & Insurance Defense practice groups.

Mr. Hanson's practice focuses on the representation of the insurance industry, including providing advice and litigation regarding insurance coverage disputes arising out of property, casualty, and specialty loss coverage including:

Advertising Injury
Agents & Brokers
Bad Faith
Business Auto/Trucking
CGL
D&O
Employer Practices Liability
Scores & Omissions
Fraud
Media Liability
Subrogation/Recovery
Umbrella
UM/UIM
Workers' Compensation

Mr. Hanson has substantial trial experience in both federal and state courts, and has been called upon by the U.S. District Court to serve as an Arbitrator. Mr. Hanson’s historical experience as a trial lawyer involves the defense of a wide range of claims, including:

Catastrophic personal injury
Property damage and economic loss stemming from causes of action sounding in product, governmental, professional and employment liability
Constitutional civil rights
Statutory causes of action
Defamation and libel
Construction-related issues
Conventional negligence matters

Mr. Hanson is admitted to practice before the State Court of New Jersey (1978), the U.S. District Court of New Jersey (1978), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (1983) and the U.S. Court of Military Appeals (1979). He earned his law degree from Seton Hall University of Law and graduated magna-cum-laude with a degree in Economics from Seton Hall University.

For more than twenty years, Mr. Veach has concentrated his practice on reinsurance and insurance regulation, litigation, and arbitration. He began his legal career with Kreindler & Kreindler, an aviation products-liability firm located in New York City, and then joined the New York County District Attorney's Office. He served under Robert M. Morgenthau in the Office's Appeals Bureau where he argued appeals in both intermediate appellate courts and the New York Court of Appeals. He later moved to a trial bureau and tried many felony and homicide cases.

In 1983, Mr. Veach joined what was then Rein, Mound & Cotton. He has since handled a variety of insurance and reinsurance disputes arising from property, general liability, surety, political risk, health, errors and omissions policies, and various reinsurance arrangements that reinsured these lines of business. For the past fifteen years, he has concentrated his practice on insurance and reinsurance regulation and arbitration, as well as insolvency-related matters affecting primary carriers and their reinsurers. He is a certified ARIAS-U.S. arbitrator.

Mr. Veach has represented reinsurance intermediaries and brokers. He has tried disputes between intermediaries over reinsurance brokerage. He represented a state insurance department in its efforts to recover commissions and brokerage from agents and brokers of an insolvent insurer. He represented other state insurance department in successfully recovering reinsurance balances due an insolvent estate. He has also advised insurers and reinsurers on licensing issues concerning reinsurance intermediaries, brokers, and agents.

Over the past twenty years, Mr. Veach has represented insurers, reinsurers, brokers, intermediaries, and others in dozens of insurance insolvencies, including those arising from the rehabilitation or liquidation or Frontier (in rehabilitation), Transit Casualty, Executive Life, Delta America Re, P-I-E Insurance Company, the Mission Companies, Millers National, Midland Insurance Company, MCA, Mutual Fire & Marine, Ambassador, various syndicates at the New York Insurance Exchange, and other failed entities in Bermuda and London. See, e.g., Corcoran v. Ardra, 156 A.D. 2d 70, 553 NYS 2d 695(1st Dept 1990) aff'd, 77 N.Y. 2d 225 (1990) cert. denied, Ardra Insurance Co. v Curiale, 500 U.S. 953 (1991). He is a member of the International Association of Insurance Receivers.

Mr. Veach has represented two New York domiciled companies in their efforts to eliminate capital impairments and avoid insolvency pursuant to NYIL 1321 and Regulation 141. For a short synopsis of regulation 141 and how it operates, see J. Veach, Viewpoint: Recovery Plan, JTW News (July/August 2005). He has also been involved in the drafting of disclosure notices and endorsements relating to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act and its recent Extension. He has commented on and reviewed proposed wording for both primary policies and reinsurance treaties and certificates.

Mr. Veach is a frequent speaker at insurance and reinsurance conferences and seminars sponsored by Mealey's, American Conference Institute, IRU, Executive Enterprises, the Independent Research Institute. and the Practicing Law Institute (PLI). For the past five years he has co-chaired the PLI's Reinsurance Law and Practice Seminar in New York City.

Mr. Veach has represented companies in run-off, as well as run-off managers. For more than fifteen years he has overseen the run-off of an association of property insurers. In October 2005, he spoke on the topic of U.S. alternatives to schemes of arrangement at the first Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Run-Off Companies (AIRROC) Conference. He serves on AIRROC's publications committee.

Mr.Veach contributes to many reinsurance and insurance publications. His articles have appeared in Best's Review, Mealey's Litigation Reports, JTW News, Insurance Advocate, ReActions, Global Reinsurance, and the Environmental Claims Journal.

He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and New York University School of Law. He earned a Masters Degree in International Legal Studies from NYU Law School while serving in the New York District Attorney's Office. He is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey, as well as the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Veach is a member of the New York and New Jersey Bar Associations, the New York County Lawyers' Association, the New York State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the International Insurance Society, the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of New Jersey, and the National Peace Corps Association.

Governor Chris Christie nominated Mr. Kobylowski to serve as Commissioner of Banking and Insurance on January 30, 2012. Mr. Kobylowski served as Acting Commissioner from February 11, 2012, until his appointment was confirmed by the Senate on December 20, 2012.

Mr. Kobylowski joined the Department of Banking and Insurance as Chief of Staff in February 2010 and took on the additional role of Acting Director of Banking in October 2011.

He served as the Chief Operating Officer for the Department with full responsibility for all legislative, regulatory, operational and administrative matters and also served as the Department’s liaison with other State departments and federal agencies, notably the Federal Reserve and the FDIC.

He was instrumental in leading the Department through successful reaccreditations by both the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and is a gubernatorial appointee to the State Employees’ Health Benefits Plan Design Committee and the School Employees’ Health Benefits Plan Design Committee.

Prior to joining the Department, Mr. Kobylowski was in private law practice for 20 years, beginning at Connell, Foley & Geiser in Roseland, New Jersey and then moving to Herrick, Feinstein LLP, first in its New York City office and then in its Newark, New Jersey office. He represented a wide array of clients, including banks, insurance companies, lenders, developers and public and private entities. Before practicing law, Mr. Kobylowski began his professional career as a bank analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

He is a magna cum laude graduate of Seton Hall University and a cum laude graduate of New York Law School, where he served as Executive Editor of the Journal of International and Comparative Law.

He and his wife, the former Nancy M. Harz, have two children.