Overview
Jane M. Byrne focuses her practice on insurance litigation. She advises an array of well-known domestic and international insurers in high-value coverage disputes, reinsurance litigation and arbitration, and transactional disputes.
Jane has been consistently recognized as one of the very best litigators in the nation in the areas of insurance coverage and reinsurance. As Chambers found in its Guide to US Lawyers, clients “are effusive in their praise” for Jane, who is as “extremely bright, tenacious and strategic” and a “renowned insurance and reinsurance litigator” (Chambers 2017) who is “brilliant at getting results (Chambers 2020) and is as “as good as it gets” in her field (Chambers 2015). Jane has been honored by Benchmark Litigation as one of the top ten insurance litigators in the country, as a National Litigation Star, and as one of the Top 250 Women in Litigation (2015 to 2020). Jane is also a three time winner of Law360’s prestigious MVP award (2013, 2017 and 2018). She was also selected to be a member of the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for Insurance for having been identified by clients and peers as an elite leading lawyer representing insurers for six consecutive years.
Results
- Obtained dismissal of all claims for a global insurance and reinsurance solutions provider in a suit brought under a Professional Liability Insurance Policy by an insurance brokerage company in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. The court found that under California law, the insurance brokerage company failed to state a claim for indemnity and bad faith against the client, arising from their alleged faulty handling of a claim that resulted in a significant jury award against their principal*
- Represented a D&O insurer in a bench trial in State Court in California addressing a question of first impression and of critical importance to the D&O industry; namely, the definition of Loss and whether it covers indemnified settlements paid to resolve a shareholder dispute over the price per share paid for an American multinational biopharmaceutical company’s purchase of another pharmaceutical company*
- Represented an insurer that issued a representations and warranties policy to a company that purchased a truck parts supplier. The policyholder commenced a confidential arbitrations seeking indemnity under the policy arising from alleged breaches of warranty and for bad faith stemming from the insurer’s decision that the claim was excessive. The matter was resolved amicably*
- Obtained dismissal on summary judgment of bad faith and breach of contract claims for an independent infrastructure insurance specialist in a case involving a business interruption claim due to a fire at an oil refinery*
- In a case of first impression in the reinsurance industry, obtained affirmance from the Second Circuit in a declaratory judgment action involving property damage claims suffered as a result of Sueprstorm Sandy. The cedent sought to compel arbitration under the London Arbitration Clauses, where the certificate also contained a New York arbitration clause. The Second Circuit rejected the cedent’s argument that “UK and Bermuda Insurers Only” should be disregarded under the “Titles Clause” of the Reinsurance Certificate, which provided that the titles of the certificate’s provisions have no meaning*
- Obtained a 5-0 victory in the New York Court of Appeals in a landmark decision on the “follow the fortunes” doctrine in a case where reinsurers challenged the allocation of a $1 billion settlement of asbestos related liabilities*
- Obtained dismissal for a defendant of class actions alleging violations of RESPA’s anti-kick-back provisions arising from the defendants practice of obtaining reinsurance for its mortgage insurance policies from captive insurers affiliated with lending banks*
- Obtained summary judgment dismissing claims for conspiracy against a reinsurer in a case where plaintiff is challenging a loss portfolio reinsurance structure*
- Obtained dismissal of class action alleging coverage for losses arising from the Madoff Ponzi scheme*
- Represented a finance and insurance company and its subsidiaries in class actions and individual lawsuits related to defective Chinese-manufactured drywall products, consolidated in a multi-district litigation in the Eastern District of Louisiana*
- Represented an insurance company in coverage litigation arising out of Boston’s infamous “Big Dig” tunnel collapse*
- Represented a bond insurer in a case involving municipal bond insurance policies allegedly procured by fraud in one of the largest municipal bribery schemes in the nation’s history*
- Represented a finance and insurance company, taking the case over on appeal and obtaining reversal of a $35 million jury verdict against them in a reinsurance dispute*
- Represented insurance company, obtaining reversal of jury verdict involving business interruption insurance*
- Represented a finance and insurance company, addressing liability of reinsurance broker for recessionary damages*
*Matter handled prior to joining McDermott
Recognitions
- National Law Journal, Insurance Law Trailblazer, 2021
- Chambers USA, Insurance Litigation, 2010 to 2020
- Benchmark Litigation, Top 250 Women in Litigation, 2015 to 2020
- Best of the Best Global Expert Guide, Expert in Insurance, 2018
- Best of the Best Global Expert Guide, Top 30 Insurance and Reinsurance Law Practitioners in the World, 2018
- Law360, MVP, 2013, 2017 and 2018
- Benchmark Litigation, Top Ten Insurance Star, 2017
- Benchmark Litigation, National Litigation Star, 2015-2017 and 2020
- Expert Guide, Women in Business Law Guide, 2015 and 2017
- Benchmark Litigation, Practice Area Attorney of the Year: Insurance, nominee, 2017
- The Legal 500, Recommended Lawyer,2013 to 2017
- The Legal 500, Leading Lawyer, 2012 to 2014, 2017
- The Legal 500, Hall of Fame for Insurance
- Who’s Who Legal, Insurance & Reinsurance, 2017
- Euromoney’s America’s Women in Business Law Awards, nominated as one of the leading Insurance & Reinsurance practitioners in the World
- Benchmark Litigation, Local Litigation Star, 2014 to 2015
- Expert Guide, Insurance and Reinsurance Leading Lawyer, 2014 to 2017
- Guide to the World’s Leading Women in Business Law, 2012 to 2017
Community
- AIDA Insurance and Reinsurance Society, member
Credentials
Education
Catholic University Law School, JD, 1988
State University of New York, BA, 1984
Courts/Agencies
US District Court for the Southern District of New York
US District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Admissions
New York
