William C. O'Neill is a partner in our Insurance/Reinsurance Group and heads the firm's reinsurance practice. His practice focuses on arbitrations and litigations on behalf of cedents, reinsurers, and brokers.

Bill has been involved in dozens of disputes involving issues in life, health, and property/casualty reinsurance matters. Recently, he has represented clients in disputes involving occupational disease exclusions, the reasonableness of reinsurance premiums charged to physician provider groups, maximum any one life warranties, sunset and commutation clauses, offset, Katrina losses, actuarial and agency issues, cedent insolvencies, follow the fortunes, late notice, contract interpretation, underwriting practices, 9/11 issues, fraud, misrepresentations, and allegations of misconduct by brokers, managing general underwriters, and third-party administrators. These disputes center on many types of underlying business, including, variable annuities, workers' compensation, asbestos, environmental, disability income, accident and health, and construction defect claims.

Bill also counsels clients regarding business, strategy and regulatory matters including reinsurance claims and notice issues, assumption reinsurance agreements, and commutations. He works closely with the firm's international trade attorneys advising reinsurers on OFAC compliance issues and with the firm's International Dispute Resolution practice. He also is involved in the firm's Climate Change practice.

In addition to his reinsurance work, Bill's practice also includes significant work on a variety of issues for health care companies, with a particular emphasis on Medicare preemption issues.

Bill has recently been recognized as a top insurance and reinsurance attorney in Euromoney's Guide to the World's Leading Insurance & Reinsurance Attorneys (2008 edition). He is a frequent speaker on reinsurance issues and has served on the faculty at training seminars for reinsurance arbitrators. He is a member of the AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS-US), a vice chair of the Excess, Surplus Lines and Reinsurance Committee of the Torts and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association, and a member of the American Health Lawyers Association.

Bill is a graduate of Cornell Law School and Towson University where he was named outstanding graduate of the Economics Department for 1992. He is admitted to both the District of Columbia and Maryland Bars.

In The News
In August 2009, Bill was featured in InsuranceLaw360 with a Q&A on his practice, the complexity of his cases, and his most notable accomplishments as a lawyer.