Freeborn & Peters LLP is pleased to announce that the Legal 500 United States directory for the first time has recognized Freeborn as one of the top firms in the country for Insurance – advice to insurers. In addition, Legal 500 recognized five Freeborn insurance and reinsurance Partners.

The firm’s ranked attorneys are Robert M. Baratta Jr., Bruce M. Engel, Daniel Hargraves, Sean Thomas Keely, and Joseph T. McCullough, all of whom are members of Freeborn’s nationally acclaimed Insurance and Reinsurance Industry Team.

The Legal 500 U.S. guide surveys corporate counsel nationwide for their law firm and lawyer recommendations.

“We are honored to have to have our Reinsurance and Insurance Industry Team to be recognized by Legal 500 as among the top such practices in the United States,” said Freeborn Co-Managing Partner Joseph L. Fogel. “Joe, Sean, Bob, Bruce, and Daniel have done an outstanding job.”

Based in Freeborn’s Chicago office, Mr. Baratta focuses his practice on insurance and reinsurance disputes. He also has represented clients in virtually all areas of environmental and health and safety law, including brownfield remediation and redevelopment, permitting, compliance, enforcement and cost recovery.

Also in the Chicago office, Mr. Engel represents insurers and reinsurers worldwide primarily concerning insurance and reinsurance coverage analysis, litigation, and arbitration. He is experienced in addressing issues related to long-tail claims, as well as the underwriting, placement and claims handling of facultative and treaty reinsurance contracts.

Mr. Hargraves serves as Managing Partner of Freeborn’s New York City office and concentrates his practice on insurance and reinsurance litigations and arbitrations on behalf of ceding and assuming reinsurance companies, brokers, underwriting agents and pools. In more than 30 years of practicing, he has been involved in numerous high-profile reinsurance arbitrations and litigations involving a wide range of issues and has successfully taken many cases to final hearing.

Based in the New York City office, Mr. Keely litigates and arbitrates commercial disputes with a particular focus on the reinsurance industry. Over the past several years, he has been at the center of cases addressing developing issues in the industry, including late notice, allocation and aggregation of losses, follow-the-settlements, breaches of the duty of utmost good faith, material misrepresentation, and insurer insolvency.

Based in the Chicago office, Mr. McCullough is the Leader of the Insurance and Reinsurance Industry Team, with more than 30 years of experience representing insurance and reinsurance companies in life & health and property & casualty matters. He has acted as counsel to insurers and reinsurers in more than 140 arbitration, court, and administrative proceedings across the United States, as well as in Bermuda, England, Continental Europe and Australia, including some of the highest-profile cases in the industry.

Serving all areas of the global insurance and reinsurance marketplace, including insurance coverage and defense practices, Freeborn’s Insurance and Reinsurance Industry Team is one of the largest in the nation. The attorneys advise insurance and reinsurance companies on their litigation and arbitration matters in the United States and abroad. Among the sophisticated and complex insurance and reinsurance coverage and rescission issues that the group handles are arbitration, underwriting, claims and allocation, finite reinsurance, agency, and counseling. Freeborn also assists clients with managing class actions, bankruptcies, insurance insolvencies, cross-border disputes, and other specialized proceedings. The team works seamlessly across all of Freeborn’s offices in Chicago; New York City; Richmond, Va.; Springfield, Il.; and Tampa, Fla.

Now in its 13th year, Legal 500 U.S. is part of the Legal 500 series of guides. Legal 500 is independent and recommends law firms and attorneys based solely on merit. Each year, recommendations are based on information provided by law firms, as well as feedback from surveys of peers and clients, along with qualitative and quantitative research and analysis performed by Legal 500. The rankings take into account both a firm’s transactional and litigation work. Law firm recommendations are based on national capabilities, regardless of location, and emphasize practice teams rather than individuals.

ABOUT FREEBORN & PETERS

Freeborn & Peters LLP is a full-service law firm, headquartered in Chicago, with international capabilities and offices in New York City; Richmond, Va.; Springfield, Ill.; and Tampa, Fla. Freeborn is always looking ahead and seeking to find better ways to serve its clients. It takes a proactive approach to ensure its clients are more informed, prepared and able to achieve greater success – not just now, but also in the future. While the firm serves clients across a very broad range of sectors, it has also pioneered an interdisciplinary approach that serves the specific needs of targeted industries.

Freeborn is a firm that genuinely lives up to its core values of integrity, effectiveness, teamwork, caring and commitment, and embodies them through high standards of client service and responsive action. Its lawyers build close and lasting relationships with clients and are driven to help them achieve their legal and business objectives.

For more information, please visit www.freeborn.com.