RLB proudly announces that it has achieved a Metropolitan Tier 1 ranking in the Philadelphia region for Insurance Law in the 2022 "Best Law Firms" survey by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers®. This is the first time the Firm has received this prestigious distinction as voted on by its peers and clients. Please click here for an overview of the Firm's insurance practice.

Congratulations to RLB partner, Josh Broudy, who was named to The Best Lawyers in America list for the second year in a row for his work in Reinsurance Law, and for the first time in the category of Insurance Law. For more information on Mr. Broudy and his practice, please click here.

RLB is pleased to announce that our partner, Joshua P. Broudy, has been selected for inclusion in the 2020 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for his work in reinsurance law. For more information on Mr. Broudy and his practice, please click here.

RLB Law Group was proud to sponsor the launch of the Philadelphia chapter of Gene Spotlight, a wonderful charity dedicated to finding cures for rare pediatric genetic diseases. We were honored to co-host the event with legendary Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright and former Syracuse and NBA star Etan Thomas. For more information on Gene Spotlight, please visit www.genespotlight.org.

Our partner, Michael H. Rosenthal, has joined the Board of Directors for the Main Line Art Center (MLAC).  MLAC's mission is to inspire and engage people of all ages, abilities, and economic means in visual art through education, exhibitions, and experiences.  RLB encourages everyone to visit MLAC’s beautiful galleries or take advantage of its art instruction for all ages, abilities, and economic means spanning from traditional to contemporary.  To learn more about MLAC, please visit www.mainlineart.org.

Once again, RLB was proud to sponsor and attend the Live Like Blaine Foundation's annual LEAD event, with special guest Julie Foudy.  Live Like Blaine's mission is to empower and inspire young women to become leaders through athletics and fitness.  For more information, please visit www.livelikeblaine.org.

“The families and their lawyers describe a succession of roadblocks as they try to claim payouts, from as little as a few thousand dollars to potentially several million dollars, to help thousands of retired players left mentally infirm, in some cases severely, from years of hits and tackles on the league’s fields.” – The New York Times

We are a proud sponosr of the Live Like Blaine Foundation LEAD Event Saturday, November 11, 20177:00 PMYSC SPORTS - 224 County Line Road, Wayne, PA We will be there for a night of fun, food, drink and dancing to support Live Like Blaine’s mission to empower and inspire young women to become leaders through athletics and fitness. Tickets are available online, click here: http://www.livelikeblaine.org/leadevent/

Join clients, friends and Exton Region Chamber of Commerce membersRibbon cutting and open house Thursday, November 16 from 5-7 p.m. at 102 Pickering Way, Suite 310 Click here to RSVP

Mealey's (April 4, 2017, 10:28 AM EDT) -- NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on March 31 vacated a reinsurance arbitration award because of an arbitrator’s failure to disclose his relationships with one of the arbitrating parties (Certain Underwriting Members at Lloyd’s, London v. Insurance Company of the Americas, Nos. 16-cv-323, 16-cv-374, S.D. N.Y.). (Opinion available.  Document #12-170407-011Z.) Certain Underwriting Members at Lloyd’s, London (Underwriters) sued the Insurance Company of the Americas (ICA) on Jan. 15, 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.  Underwriters and ICA entered into a reinsurance agreement that was underwritten as a workers’ compensation catastrophe cover.  A dispute arose, and ICA demanded arbitration.  Underwriters said the arbitration panel issued a final award on Oct. 19, 2015, ordering that it is responsible for claims totaling more than $2.5 million. Misconduct In its complaint, Underwriters asked for an order vacating the arbitration award because a member of the arbitration panel allegedly engaged in misconduct by failing to disclose his relationship with ICA.  ICA cross-moved to confirm the award on Feb. 27, 2016. In his opinion, Judge Vernon S. Broderick noted that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), 9 U.S. Code Section 9, 9 U.S.C. § 9, “provides for judicial confirmation of arbitration awards if the parties have consented to such confirmation in their agreement to arbitrate.” “Under the FAA, a court may vacate an arbitration award upon an application of any party to the arbitration . . . where there was...

By Chuck Stanley Law360, New York (April 3, 2017, 7:38 PM EDT) -- A New York federal judge on Friday vacated a $5 million arbitral award against British reinsurers after learning one of the arbitrators had an undisclosed business relationship with the Florida workers' compensation firm that filed the arbitration claim. Alex Campos failed to disclose his extensive business relationships with high-level employees of Insurance Company of the Americas when the firm appointed him to an arbitration panel in a dispute over a reinsurance contract with Lloyd’s of London underwriters, calling into question his impartiality and placing a cloud over the panel’s decision in favor of ICA, judge Vernon S. Broderick said in a decision vacating the award. “Campos had close business relationships with numerous principals of ICA, a party to the arbitration, and the number and variety of these relationships suggest he was personally acquainted with some of these individuals over a number of years,” the decision states. “Arbitrator Campos’ failure to disclose his significant relationships with principals of ICA, and with ICA itself, requires vacatur of the arbitration award.” The underlying dispute centers on whether agreements for reinsurance against multiple workers’ comp claims were limited to cases in which more than one person was injured as the result of a single accident. The tribunal found that the first- and second-layer underwriters were responsible for more than $2.5 million under claims related to two separate incidents resulting in payouts from ICA and third-layer underwriters were responsible for up to $2.5 million...

EXTON, PA - November 28, 2016 - The law firm of Rosenthal Lurie LLC is pleased to announce the addition of Joshua P. Broudy to its partnership; with this addition comes a name change to Rosenthal Lurie & Broudy LLC.  Mr. Broudy has represented domestic and international clients for over 21 years in sophisticated business litigation and advisory matters at some of the country's largest and most prestigious law firms, including Pepper Hamilton LLP, where he first worked with Michael Rosenthal and Stuart Lurie. Mr. Broudy's practice focuses on representing insurers, reinsurers, brokers, insureds and other participants in the insurance industry in complex litigation and coverage matters in various state and federal courts, as well as arbitration and mediation settings. He regularly counsels clients on claims, coverage, regulatory and compliance issues across various lines of business, and also provides advice on contract drafting and negotiation, litigation avoidance and risk management.  Outside of the insurance and reinsurance arena, Mr. Broudy represents individual and business clients in connection with construction, real estate, labor and employment, civil rights, and contract and business tort disputes. The addition of Mr. Broudy brings insurance and reinsurance dispute resolution and counseling to the firm's flourishing commercial litigation, employment, executive compensation and transactional practices. "We are pleased that Josh has joined us and brought commercial insurance and reinsurance contracts competency to the firm," said Stuart Lurie. "Our clients will benefit from the 21 years of experience Josh brings to the table." As for the name change for the well-known local brand, Michael Rosenthal said, "Stuart...

Arbitration proceedings are supposed be simple, quick and final.  But the finality of arbitration has a potential downside as the stakes get higher.  It is unlikely that a losing party can overturn an arbitrator’s decision even if it seems completely at odds with clear legal precedent. A recent case from the Sixth Circuit highlights this problem.  Schaffer v. Multiband Corp. grew out of dispute between trustees of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and the parent company over an indemnification claim.  The US Department of Labor claimed that the trustees had breached their fiduciary duties by permitting the ESOP to pay an inflated price for employer stock.  The trustees settled the claims for $1.45 million each and then demanded contractual indemnification from Multiiband.  Multiband refused and the dispute went to arbitration.   The arbitrator found the indemnification agreements to be invalid under a provision of the Employee Retirement Income Act of 1974 (ERISA), which makes exculpatory agreements unenforceable.  That provision, however, is tempered by another provision of ERISA that permits trustees to obtain insurance for fiduciary breaches as well as DOL guidance and case law that treats indemnification agreements as insurance as long as the benefit plan has no liability for the indemnification.  The trustees should have prevailed and so they filed suit in federal district to vacate the arbititrator's decision.  The trustees faced a high hurdle.  Under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) the principle of finality carries the most weight.  A court ‘must' confirm an arbitration award `unless' it is vacated, modified, or...

The Philadelphia office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has made "excessive" plan fees a priority for investigation. There is no bright line to define "execessive fees" but if an investigation determines that 401(k) plan participants are paying higher fees than would otherwise be expected, EBSA will want to find out who is responsible.   The investigation will try to answer questions like: aWhat do the disclosures look like? What do the fiduciaries look at?Is there something that justifies the high fees?Is it the fault of the disclosures? Is it the fault of the service provider? Is it the fault of the named fiduciary plan sponsor? The document requests associated with these investigations can be quite burdensome. Rosenthal Lurie has a sample request that consists of 23 different categories of documents.  Send us an email and we will forward a copy to you.

Many provisions of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) become effective in 2014.  Others are effective this year.  Beginning October 1, 2013, most employers must notify employees of the coverage options available through the Health Insurance Marketplace established by the ACA. Employers are free to create their own notices, but the US Department of Labor has issued a Model Notice that employers can use to fulfill their obligations under the ACA. You may have heard that employers with fewer than fifty employees are not required to offer insurance coverage to their employees and that they are exempt from any penalties.  While that is true, the Notice requirement is technically part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, so many more employers are affected.  Any employer with at least one employee engaged in “interstate commerce” or which has more than $500,000 in sales is covered by the FLSA, so the vast majority of employers will be required to provide the Notice to their employees. The Notice must include the following information: The existence of a new Marketplace as well as contact information and description of the services provided by a Marketplace.The availability of a “premium tax credit” if the employee purchases a qualified health plan through the Marketplace.The Notice must inform employee that if she purchases a qualified health plan through the Marketplace, the employee she may lose the employer contribution (if any) to any health benefits plan offered by the employer and that all or a portion of such contribution may be excludable...

An article published in the scientific journal Brain reported on a study of brain samples taken from 85 people who had documented instances of repeated mild brain injury, including 33 who had played in the NFL. Eighty percent of brains studied showed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., a degenerative and incurable disease. Symptoms of C.T.E. are classified as Stages I-IV, with each stage representing progressively worse symptoms, ranging from headaches and difficulty in concentrating to dementia. According to the study: Data on athletic exposure were available for 34 American football players; the stage of chronic traumatic encephalopathy correlated with increased duration of football play, survival after football and age at death. Notably, the study focused on mild, repeated brain injuries, suggesting that the cumulative effects can have significant long-term consequences: The current results establish that a distinctive pattern of neuropathological changes, previously reported primarily in boxers, can also be found in other athletes and military veterans and provide a clear impetus for future studies. . . .[T]his study clearly shows that for some athletes and war fighters, there may be severe and devastating long-term consequences of repetitive brain trauma that has traditionally been considered only mild. The NFL Disability Plan now has a provision providing benefits to eligible players who have a permanent, neuro-cognitive impairment but are not receiving “Line of Duty” or T&P disability benefits or Pension Benefits under the Retirement Plan. It remains to be seen how the Plan will handle these claims and how many players...