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Mitchell Dolin, a partner in the firm's Washington office, focuses on the litigation, arbitration, and mediation of complex civil cases, principally in the insurance coverage field. He has represented corporate policyholders in complex and high-value disputes with their carriers over coverage for a wide array of claims, including insurance for shareholder lawsuits against directors and officers of public companies and mass torts involving pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and asbestos-containing materials. Mr. Dolin's insurance work -- through which the firm's clients collectively have recovered billions of dollars of coverage proceeds -- has taken place in trial and appellate courts across the country and in domestic US and international arbitral proceedings. He has published and lectured on numerous insurance law, arbitration, and litigation topics. Mr. Dolin has also testified before Congressional committees evaluating proposed legislation affecting such matters as court-annexed arbitration, federal jurisdiction, and fee shifting.
Representative Matters
- Lead counsel for major public companies in litigating and advising on directors-and-officers insurance coverage for securities class actions, shareholder derivative claims, antitrust litigation, and other claims against companies or their directors and officers.
- Lead or co-lead counsel in connection with pursuing coverage under "Bermuda form" liability policies for mass-tort claims against pharmaceutical, medical device, and chemical manufacturers.
- Previous representations of note include: Owens Corning in a series of matters yielding recoveries of nearly $1.5 billion for coverage of asbestos, securities, environmental, and property liabilities or losses; UBS, the mortgage lender to the retail leaseholder at the World Trade Center, in the 9/11 property insurance litigation; Exxon in its coverage litigation and arbitration resulting in insurance payments of $780 million for Valdez-related losses; President Clinton in pursuing insurance coverage for Jones v. Clinton; Nestle and other companies in environmental coverage litigation; and one of the defendants in antitrust litigation brought by a coal slurry pipeline venture against several western railroads.
- Selected reported insurance opinions in which Mr. Dolin has served as lead counsel include: National Football League v. Vigilant Ins. Co., 824 N.Y.S.2d 72 (1st Dep't 2006); Dow Corning Corp. v. Safety National Cas. Co., 335 F.3d 742 (8th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1219 (2004); Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Aetna, 769, N.E.2d 835 (Ohio 2002) (amici); Owens Corning v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., 257 F.3d 484 (6th Cir. 2001); SIG Arms, Inc. v. Employers Ins. of Wausau, 122 F. Supp.2d 255 (D.N.H. 2000); Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. v. American Centennial Ins. Co., 660 N.E.2d 746 (Ohio CCP 1995); Affiliated FM Ins Co. v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 16 F.3d 684 (6th Cir. 1994); Nestle Foods Corp. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 842 F. Supp. 125 (D.N.J. 1993).
Honors and Rankings
- The Best Lawyers in America (2008) (for Commercial Litigation, Insurance, International Arbitration and ADR)
- Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2008) (ranked in Band 1 for Insurance both nationally and in DC)
- Legal Media Group's Guide to the World's Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers and Guide to the World's Leading Litigation Lawyers (2008)
- Legal Times (Feb. 26, 2007) (profiled as one of ten "leading lawyers" in the insurance field)
- Washington D.C. Super Lawyers (2008) (for Insurance Coverage, Business Litigation, and ADR)
- International Commercial Litigation magazine, "Commercial Prosecutors of the Year" (1997)
- Benjamin J. Cardozo Citation of Merit, Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith (1987)
Pro Bono
- Successfully argued for vacation of client's death sentence in State v. Tokman, 564 So. 2d 1339 (Miss. 1990).
- Represented amici curiae in several Supreme Court cases involving civil rights issues, including Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, 491 U.S. 164 (1989) and St. Francis College v. Al-Khazraji, 481 U.S. 604 (1987).
Memberships and Affiliations
- American Law Institute, Member (elected 1992)
- CPR International Institute’s Regional Panel of Neutrals
- American Judicature Society, Board Member (1998-2004)
- Human Rights First, Board Member (1994-2004)
- D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility Hearing Committee No. 3, Chair (1997-1999)
Publications and Speeches
- "Insurance," chapter in Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, 2d ed. (2005), Co-Author
- "Arbitration," chapter in Law and Practice of Insurance Coverage Litigation (2000), Co-Author
- "Understanding the Bermuda Excess Liability Form," 1 J. Ins. Coverage 68 (Fall 1998), Co-Author
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