Caribbean practice

Anguilla

• Hurricane damage claims for resorts, other commercial property, power stations, transmission lines, and water treatment facilities.

Aruba

• Representing insurers in a crude oil shortage claim resulting from theft at a storage facility.

Bahamas

• Claim from damage to superyacht while in dry dock for repair of unrelated damage.
• Advising on coverage under financial institutions policy and acting as monitoring counsel in relation to high-value claims against banks in relation to alleged poor/fraudulent investment management advice.
• Personal injury cases, advising London market reinsurers on coverage.
• Construction all risks coverage advice where US contractors were undertaking works in the Bahamas subject to English law, using a US form of contract.
• Hurricane Dorian property damage to Great Guana Key mansions. Coverage and adjustment issues.
• Power plant property damage and resulting business interruption (BI) in North Bimini.

Barbados

• Assisted a global insurer in the handling of various claims against doctors under their medical malpractice policies, including a patient that claimed damages from a complication of a ruptured posterior capsule following a procedure to remove cataracts, and complications arising out of plastic surgeries, among others.
• Advising insurers of an insurance company in respect of criminal proceedings in the United States against a company director arising from alleged corruption involving government officials.

Bermuda

• Advising professional liability, D&O and financial institutions insurers, and defending their insureds, in respect of claims against professionals (including lawyers, accountants, corporate service providers and construction professionals), professional trustees, banks and directors.
• Advising insurers in relation to policies, and defending their Bermuda-based insureds, covering most other classes of business, including employers and public liability, marine and property.
• Handling (re)insurance coverage arbitrations, including in relation to Bermuda Form, property, healthcare, D&O insurance, ILWs and related products.
• Handling commercial litigation matters, including corporate disputes, insolvency and matters relating to private trusts.
• Corporate and regulatory advice and services including in relation to (re)insurance entities.

British Virgin Islands

• Defending corporate service provider from claims by investors for failure to protect interests of investors in factoring financing scheme by allowing payments to be made to fraudsters.

Cayman Islands

• Assisting professional indemnity insurers and insured in relation to claim against an insurance broker following avoidance of home-owners policy.
• Advising financial institution insurers in relation to claim against investment fund manager for breach of fiduciary duties and self-dealing in relation to the misappropriation of substantial client funds.

Cuba

• Advising on coverage and recovery prospects in relation to political risk and contract frustration claims.
• Large aviation loss handling of foreign carrier interest.

Dominican Republic

• Defending resort hotel in respect of personal injury claim by hotel guest.
• Advising on alleged violation of a domestic cybercrime statute.

Haiti

• Recovery from a third-party for fire damage to rental property against a foreign subsidiary of the insured under the insured’s international commercial insurance policy; exemplary for its complexity in its admixture of US and Haitian company, tax, and insurance law.
• 2009 earthquake-related property losses involving large industrial complex and port facilities.

Jamaica

• Coverage advice under a commercial all risk policy relating to a Covid-19 BI claim by a hotel in Jamaica; presented a rare case of Covid-19 BI coverage via a specific “notifiable infectious disease” provision with local statute specifically defining Covid-19 as a “Class 1 notifiable disease”.
• In-depth coverage advice relating to an explosion at a gas station with multiple deaths and injuries; regarding cover under a local, third-party liability (TPL) policy for a franchisee where the franchisor is the insured.
• Coverage advice to the reinsurer, as it related to the specific issue of vicarious liability under local law.
• Providing insurers with coverage advice where insured under a property policy rented their home and a renter was murdered, and several of his family injured in a crime at the property.
• Defended a local Jamaican contractor in its litigation on behalf of an insurer and the London market regarding damage during construction to plaintiff property due to insureds waterworks.
• Defended contractors, on behalf of the insurer, against a claim made by a resort in Jamaica who claimed that ground and waterworks done by the contractor had caused them to lose their clients and ultimately shut the resort. Matter was in litigation but we settled the matter with no liability for our client.
• Representing “all risks” insurers in relation to substantial losses following an explosion at power station.

Puerto Rico

• Coverage advice on a treaty insurance and handling of hurricane claims, multiple other hurricane claims for London Market.
• Theft and large personal injury claims at tourist resorts.
• Class actions regarding Hurricane Maria damage and resulting BI.

St. Lucia

• Coverage advice and TPL policies on matters.
• Advising on coverage and defending professional indemnity claims arising out of a failed timeshare project.
• Representing resort hotel and its insurers in relation to public liability claims arising from a dive boat explosion that resulted in fatalities and injuries to hotel guests.

St Maarten

• TPL claim against a local hotel which involves questions as to vicarious liability. The matter was commenced in the courts of Ontario with the potential of being moved to St. Maarten.

Turks and Caicos

• Hurricane Irma claim coverage advice.

US Virgin Islands

• Broker negligence in a series of hurricane claims from Irma and Maria.
• Advising products liability insurers of a rum distillery in respect of numerous claims involving rum fungus.
• Representing insurers in respect of property damage claim in excess of $300 million for damages sustained to a hotel on St. Thomas as a result of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
• Personal injury coverage advice following accidents on hotel premises.
• Property coverage advice following construction works at properties.
• Handling and monitoring multiple litigations for insurers.
• Claims on negligence installing solar panels and cost of fixing the problem in Little St. James island.
• Brief in opposition to a petition for writ of certiorari filed in the Supreme Court of the United States, resulting in denial of the petition. Baloni v. Ranger American of the V.I., Inc., 70 V.I. 1048 (V.I. 2019), cert. denied sub nom. Ranger Am. v. Balboni,__ S.Ct. __, 2019 WL 6689676 (Mem) (U.S. Dec. 9, 2019).
• Successfully drafted and argued an appeal before the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands which ultimately resulted in an opinion deeming a non-economic damages cap unconstitutional and in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
• Represent individual taxpayers and local business in civil tax dispute against the United States of America in the federal District Court of the Virgin Islands.

Cross-jurisdictional Caribbean experience

• Cyber/data protection: advice on notification regimes/requirements, potential exposure faced by companies in the region for failure to comply, cyber first response team.
• TPAs, for example, cross-jurisdictional medmal cover.
• Regulatory.