Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP



Insurance Practice

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Ronald Kent and Donna Vobornik Sonnenschein regularly handles high-risk and complex matters for financial and insurance industry clients.  Staffed with seasoned litigators and former insurance regulators, our lawyers are relentless advocates for our clients' interests.

Almost a fourth of Sonnenschein's attorneys have significant experience representing dozens of insurance clients on a wide variety of matters. The firm has long had a focused insurance practice group which strives to stay abreast — and ahead — of industry and legal developments. In all, this group currently includes a core of nearly 90 attorneys. Many other Sonnenschein lawyers also regularly handle transactions and other matters for insurance clients. What makes Sonnenschein's practice so unique is its breadth, which ranges from work in insolvency to bad faith.

Learn more about our Insurance Practice at Sonnenschein.



Spotlight on Insurance
Firm Lawyers Pen Chapters for Leading Insurance Law Book
New Appleman on Insurance Law Library Edition
Paige Waters and Gary Hernandez co-authored "Insurer Solvency Regulation," Chapter 14, Volume 2, of the New Appleman on Insurance Law Library Edition, a leading source for understanding both the basics and the nuances of insurance law. Former Sonnenschein Partner Gary Cohen authored Chapter 8, Volume 2, "Framework of Insurance Regulation."

Waters and Hernandez provide detailed and complete information about insurance solvency regulation, which is designed to ensure that insureres have adequate assets to honor their promises to policyholders. They also describe tools that insurance regulators use to monitor, detect and identify potential financial problems and act quickly, plus much more.

Cohen presents a clear, concise overview of the way in which the business of insurance is regulated. His chapter describes the history of state-based regulatory structure and the broad powers that state insurance departments have in regulating every aspect of the business. He provides an excellent guide to understanding industry regulation and where it may be headed.

Volume 2, available now, takes a comprehensive look at "Insurance Regulation." Volume 1, published last fall, covers "Essentials of Insurance law."
Sonnenschein Attorneys Author Article on Life Settlements and Securitization
The life settlement industry currently is a $12 billion industry, and growing, driven by policyholders' desire for cash settlements larger than the policy surrender value. In their February 2010 article, "Your Money or Your Life: Life Settlements and Securitization" (Insurance Litigation Reporter, Vol. 32, No. 2), Sonnenschein partners Kenneth Schnoll and Stephen Whelan explain how life settlements work, how life settlements are currently regulated, describe the potential unintended consequences of life settlements and then discuss the issues relating to the securitization of life settlements.