Liability Insurance in International Arbitration The Bermuda Form

by Jacobs, Richard; Masters, Lorelie S; Stanley, Paul Stanley

• ISBN13: 9781841138756
• ISBN10: 1841138754
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-01-13
• Publisher: Hart Publishing

Summary

This is the second, revised edition, of what has become the standard work on Bermuda Form excess insurance policies. The Form, first used in the 1980s, covers liabilities for catastrophes such as serious explosions or mass tort litigation and is now widely used by insurance companies. It is unusual in that it includes a clause requiring disputes to be arbitrated under English procedural rules in London but, surprisingly, subject to New York substantive law. This calls for a rare mix of knowledge and experience on the part of the lawyers involved, each of whom will also be required to confront the many differences between English and US legal culture. A related feature of the Form is that the awards of arbitrators are confidential and not subject to the scrutiny of the courts. Therefore, while many lawyers have been involved in litigating on the Bermuda Form their knowledge remains locked away. The Bermuda Form is thus not well understood, a situation not helped by the lack of publications dealing with it. Accordingly, those required to deal with the Form professionally are confronted with a lengthy and complex document, but with very little to aid their understanding of it. This unique and comprehensive work offers a detailed commentary on how the Form is to be construed, its coverage, the substantive law to be applied, the limits of liability, exceptions, and, of course, the procedures to be followed during arbitration proceedings in London. This is a book which will prove invaluable to lawyers, risk managers, and executives of companies which purchase insurance on the Bermuda Form, and clients, lawyers or arbitrators involved in disputes arising therefrom. 'It's exciting to find something entirely new and innovative. The authors have pioneered into an untrodden region. The book has a playful, spirited quality one does not often see in an insurance treatise...its distinguished authors have managed not only to keep the tone fresh and bright but also to pack in a lot of helpful information.' Helen Anne Boyer, The Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin

Author Biography

Richard Jacobs QC was educated at Cambridge University and is a barrister at Essex Court Chambers in London, specialising in commercial law, including insurance and arbitration law. He appears as leading counsel in court and arbitration proceedings and has acted as arbitrator in various disputes including Bermuda Form arbitrations. Lorelie S Masters was educated at Georgetown University and Notre Dame Law School. She is a Partner at Perkins Coie LLP, in Washington, DC, where she advises and represents policyholders in insurance coverage and litigation. She is co-author of a treatise entitled Insurance Coverage Litigation (Aspen Publishers, 2nd Edition, 1999 and Supps). Paul Stanley QC was educated at Cambridge University and Harvard Law School and is a barrister at Essex Court Chambers specialising in commercial law, including insurance and arbitration law. He appears as leading counsel in court and arbitration proceedings and is the author of The Law of Confidentiality: A Restatement (Hart Publishing, 2008).