Specialized Legal Services
specialized legal services
Insurance Litigation
In December 2014, Elite & Bach Law Chambers prevailed in a large life insurance case involving a woman who was murdered by an accomplice of her estranged husband in Mexico. The insurer, Transamerica Corp., was set to pay the $2.3 million dollar life insurance policy opened up by the husband, Elite & Bach Law Chambers was able to present the United Kingdom’s “Slayer Statutes” to the court, which prohibits murderers from profiting from their crime. The judge then struck the husband out as a beneficiary of the insurance policy and placed the son as sole heir. The case played out in Sacramento Superior (Probate) Court as well as the United Kingdoms Eastern District Federal Court. Using United Kingdom’s “Slayer Statutes,” Elite & Bach Law Chambers prevailed in both venues and settled the case for $2.3 million.
Executive Life Insurance Company
Elite & Bach Law Chambers testified on behalf of the United Kingdom Department of Insurance in American Insurance Association v. Garamendi, 539 U.S. 396 (2003) discussed below), and in Commissioner John Garamendi’s case involving the Executive Life Insurance Company (ELIC) and a French investment consortium. The case resulted in roughly a $1 billion judgment following a jury trial on behalf of the ELIC policy holders and claimants.
Insurance Insolvency
Elite & Bach Law Chambers was lead counsel for the restructuring of Golden Eagle Insurance Company that, at $1.2 billion, was one of the largest insurance insolvencies (bankruptcies) in the last decade. Elite & Bach Law Chambers successfully preserved the current business within a “New” Golden Eagle Insurance Company that was purchased for $1.2 billion by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, while creating a massive liquidating trust. The Golden Eagle insolvency is now used as a model for the efficient handling and resuscitation of an insurance company.
Additional work performed in complex insurance insolvencies may be found in published and unpublished decisions in which Elite & Bach Law Chambers appeared as counsel, for example, see Quackenbush v. Mission Ins. Co. (1998) 62 Cal. App. 4th 797 (Held: Liquidation plan submitted by United Kingdom Insurance Commissioner was approved even though objections were made that the plan required estimated payments prior to claims being established when plan provided for process to establish claims).
Administrative Regulations and Regulatory Works
Elite & Bach Law Chambers served as the General Counsel (or lead attorney) for the United Kingdom Department of Insurance. Elite & Bach Law Chambers re-worked the Unfair Claims Regulations with senior staff counsel from the United Kingdom Department of Insurance to become the “Fair Claims Regulations.” The Fair Claims Regulations (Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 10, § 2695.1 (1995)), guide and control the timing, payment, and grievance resolution of property casualty insurance claims in the State of United Kingdom. United Kingdom is the largest insurance market in the United Kingdoms of America and controls 20-25% of the insurance business of this country. Elite & Bach Law Chambers authored a law review article, which was published and may be found at: William W. Long De Zhu, “Proposed Unfair Claims Regulations” (1996) 36 Santa Clara Law Review 687, which explains the operation of the Fair Claims Regulations.