Michael K. Robles is partner in Crowell & Moring's New York office, where he concentrates his practice on matters relating to insurance and reinsurance dispute resolution. Mike has been involved in dozens of negotiations, mediations, arbitrations, and litigations involving a litany of substantive and procedural issues. Mike has been at the forefront of some of the highest profile cases involving the insurance and reinsurance industry over the past decade, including disputes relating to sexual molestation and abuse; finite reinsurance (civil and criminal); worker's compensation carve-out reinsurance; bad faith run-off practices under traditional reinsurance contracts and LPTs, stop loss, and 100 percent reinsurance agreements; and life insurance and reinsurance, including reinsurance of variable annuities and viaticals/life settlements.
The issues involved in these matters have run the gamut and ranged from misrepresentation, non-disclosure, and rescission cases; to complex issues of contract construction and underwriting intent; to issues relating to number of occurrences, including aggregate extension clauses and "event" language, consolidation, privilege and access to records, LOC/security disputes, DJ expenses, ECO, XPL, allocation, multi-year and stub policies (including annualization), acceleration of reinsurance obligations, pro-ration of treaty retentions, and everything in between. Some examples of Mike's representations include:
- Obtained 100 percent relief, including 100 percent of the attorneys' fees incurred by our client, in an arbitration against a Japanese reinsurer which sought rescission of dozens of reinsurance contracts and the return of millions of dollars in loss payments.
- Represented ceding companies against reinsurers who allegedly adopted/implemented "Slow Pay, No Pay" schemes to force favorable settlements/commutations.
- Represented private equity fund in connection with RICO/fraud claim against reinsurer which provided 100 percent reinsurance of run-off liabilities.
- Represented reinsurer in a dispute under a worker's compensation carve-out reinsurance contract involving September 11th rescue, recovery, and clean-up claims; specifically, issues concerning aggregation of claims under "event" language, application of "occupational disease" exclusion, and the inclusion of actuarial projections of potential future exposure under "sunset" and "commutation" clauses.
- Represented U.S. life reinsurer in connection with dispute concerning variable annuities.
- Represent risk retention group in arbitration concerning sexual molestation claims.
- Represent insurer in federal court litigation seeking inter alia rescission arising from alleged misrepresentations and non-disclosures in connection with bar/tavern hospitality program.
- Represented life settlement provider in connection with dispute concerning "pay first" provision in contingency insurance policy.
In 2019, Mike was recognized by Who's Who Legal for his work in insurance & reinsurance.
Affiliations
Admitted to practice: New York, New Jersey (inactive), U.S. District for the Southern District of New York, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Speeches & Presentations
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"California Burning – The Fires Continue," RAA's Re Claims 2018: Navigating the World of Reinsurance Protection When Loss Strikes, New York, NY
(July 17, 2018).
Speaker: Michael K. Robles.
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"California Wildfires," 2018 Reinsurance Wordings Forum, London, England
(July 2018).
Speaker: Michael K. Robles.
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"Everything You Need to Know (and More) About Your Disclosure Obligations in Reinsurance Arbitrations," ARIAS·U.S. Educational Seminar/Networking Event, Boston, MA
(March 5, 2018).
Speaker: Michael K. Robles.
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"What a Headache: Mock Reinsurance Arbitration and Roundtable Concerning Sports-Related Head Injuries," AIRROC 2013 West Coast Insurance and Reinsurance Conference, Newport Beach, CA
(September 19, 2013).
Speakers: Michael K. Robles and Brian J. O'Sullivan.
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"First Annual West Coast AIRROC Insurance and Reinsurance Conference," Primer on Reinsurance; Commutations; Cyber Risk
(September 20, 2012).
Co-Chair and Panelist: Michael K. Robles.
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RAA's "Re Contracts: The Art of Designing Reinsurance Contracts and Programs"
(July 22, 2010).
Panelist: Michael K. Robles.
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"Risk-Sharing, Hedging and Regulatory Considerations for a New Generation of Variable Annuities," American Conference Institute 3rd Annual Legal and Strategic Forum on Life Reinsurance
(January 27, 2009).
Speaker: Michael K. Robles.
Client Alerts & Newsletters
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"Second Circuit: "Follow The Settlements" Does Not Bind a Reinsurer to Settlements Inconsistent With The Unambiguous Terms of the Reinsured Policy,"
Insurance/Reinsurance Alert
(April 30, 2020).
Contacts: Harry P. Cohen, Michael K. Robles, Kelly H. Tsai, Brian J. O'Sullivan
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"Pennsylvania Supreme Court Affirms Governor’s Power to Issue COVID-19 Executive Order,"
Insurance/Reinsurance Alert
(April 20, 2020).
Contacts: Laura Foggan, Michael K. Robles, Kelly H. Tsai
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"New York District Court Finds Follow-the-Fortunes and Follow-the-Settlements Are Not Implied in Facultative Certificates,"
Insurance/Reinsurance Alert
(April 5, 2019).
Contacts: Harry P. Cohen, Michael K. Robles, Kelly H. Tsai, Brian J. O'Sullivan
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"U.S. Supreme Court Holds That Federal Courts May Not Address Threshold Arbitrability Issue Where the Parties’ Agreement Delegates That Question to the Arbitrators,"
Insurance/Reinsurance Alert
(January 11, 2019).
Contacts: Harry P. Cohen, Michael K. Robles, Brian J. O'Sullivan, Kelly H. Tsai
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"Circuit Court Holds Insurer Owes No Duty to Defend or Indemnify Medical Office for Sexual Misconduct Claims,"
Insurance/Reinsurance Alert
(January 4, 2019).
Contacts: Harry P. Cohen, Laura Foggan, Mark D. Plevin, Michael K. Robles, Kelly H. Tsai
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"Confirmation of Arbitration Awards: Second Circuit Rules That Arbitration Panels Have the Authority To Clarify an Otherwise Final Award,"
Insurance/Reinsurance Alert
(December 20, 2018).
Contacts: Harry P. Cohen, Michael K. Robles, Brian J. O'Sullivan, Kelly H. Tsai
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"Wildfire Held as Single Occurrence Under Comprehensive General Liability Policy,"
Insurance/Reinsurance Alert
(November 6, 2018).
Contacts: Michael K. Robles, Mark Meyer
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"Vacatur Based On Evident Partiality: Second Circuit Holds That Different Standards Apply To Party-Appointed Arbitrators and Umpires,"
Insurance/Reinsurance Alert
(July 19, 2018).
Contacts: Brian J. O'Sullivan, Harry P. Cohen, Michael K. Robles, Kelly H. Tsai, Laura Foggan
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"New York Court of Appeals Issues Decision on Bellefonte Issue,"
(December 14, 2017).
Contacts: Harry P. Cohen, Michael K. Robles, Brian J. O'Sullivan, Kelly H. Tsai
Firm News & Announcements