Mitchell F. Dolin

Mitchell Dolin, a partner in the firm's Washington office, chairs the firm's global insurance recovery practice.  Ranked by Chambers USA as one of the nation’s top dozen or so policyholder lawyers for each of the past several years, his advocacy work has taken place in trial and appellate courts across the country, domestic and international arbitral proceedings, and numerous high-stakes mediations.  In the insurance field, he has been lead counsel to corporate policyholders pursuing coverage for a wide array of underlying liabilities, including antitrust, employment, environmental, intellectual property, mass tort, professional liability, and securities and shareholder claims, as well as for first-party property, business interruption, cargo, and event cancellation losses.  Mr. Dolin, who for several years chaired the firm’s arbitration practice group, has served as an advocate and arbitrator in numerous domestic and international arbitrations and has litigated arbitration-related questions in the courts.  He has published and lectured on many arbitration, insurance, and litigation topics.

Representative Matters

• Directors and officers, errors and omissions, and media liability insurance representations include work for numerous policyholders in diverse industry sectors on claims-resolution and coverage issues, including Cardinal Health, McGraw Hill, Sprint Nextel, and others.
• In the mass-tort field, he has litigated and arbitrated coverage disputes concerning medical devices, pharmaceutical products, and mass torts for Dow Corning, Eli Lilly, the National Football League, and numerous other clients.  He led the firm's efforts as special insurance counsel to Congoleum, which resolved its asbestos coverage disputes and emerged from bankruptcy in 2010.  He served as lead insurance counsel for Owens Corning, securing approximately $1.5 billion in coverage for asbestos claims both prior to and during the company's bankruptcy reorganization proceedings, including securing an arbitration award against a single carrier valued at $300 million.
• Other previous representations include: UBS, the mortgage lender to the retail leaseholder at the World Trade Center, in the 9/11 property insurance litigation; Exxon in coverage litigation and international arbitration resulting in insurance recoveries of $780 million for Valdez-related losses; President Clinton in connection with coverage for the Paula Jones litigation; the American Association of Blood Banks in connection with coverage for HIV-tainted blood lawsuits; and Nestle in a precedent-setting environmental coverage lawsuit.

Honors and Rankings

• Benchmark (2013) (Insurance Litigation Star)
• The Best Lawyers in America (2013) (Washington Insurance Lawyer of the Year)
• The Best Lawyers in America (2014) (Arbitration, Commerical Litigation, Insurance Law, International Arbitration, and Mediation)
• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2013) (ranked in Band 1 for Insurance both nationally and in DC; listed in Chambers USA continuously since 2003)
• The Legal 500 US (2013) ("Leading Lawyer" for Insurance) 
• Who’s Who Legal (2013) (Insurance and Reinsurance)
• The Legal Media Group Guide to the World's Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers (2013)
• Washington, DC Super Lawyers (2013) (The Top 100)
• Washingtonian (2011) (Best Lawyers)
• Legal Times (Feb. 26, 2007) (profiled as one of ten "leading lawyers" in the insurance field)
• 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), and represented client in subsequent trial court proceedings leading to a negotiated plea. 
• Represented amici curiae in Supreme Court cases involving civil rights issues, including McMillian v. Monroe County, 520 U.S. 781 (1997), Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, 491 U.S. 164 (1989), and St. Francis College v. Al-Khazraji, 481 U.S. 604 (1987).
• Represented organizations challenging federal agency action in City of Alexandria v. Slater, 198 F.3d 862 (D.C. Cir. 1999) and Women Involved in Farm Economics v. USDA, 876 F.2d 994 (D.C. Cir. 1989).
• Represented organizations advocating as amici curiae in defense of gun control regulations, including in Woollard v. Gallagher, 712 F.3d 585 (4th Cir. 2013).

Memberships and Affiliations

• American Bar Association, previously served as co-chair of the Litigation Section's Task Force on the Judiciary and its Federal Legislation Committee.
• American Bar Foundation, Life Fellow (2013)
• American Judicature Society, Board Member (1998-2004)
• American Law Institute, Member (elected 1992) and currently serves on Members Consultative Groups for the ALI Principles of the Law of Liability Insurance and for the ALI Restatement of the U.S. Law of International Commercial Arbitration  
• CPR International Institute’s Regional Panel of Neutrals (2003-)
• D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility Hearing Committee No. 3, Chair (1997-1999)
• Human Rights First, Board Member Emeritus (2013-), Board Member (1994-2004) and Washington Council Member (1993-2009)
• Law360, Insurance Editorial Advisory Board (2011)
• National Eagle Scout Association, Member

Publications and Speeches

• Lectured and/or presented papers on arbitration, insurance, and litigation topics, including at courses or programs under the auspices of ALI-ABA, the American Bar Association, the CPR International Institute, Mealey’s Publications, the Professional Liability Underwriting Society, the University of Alabama Law Foundation, the University of Houston Law Foundation, and the University of Virginia Law School. 
• Testified on behalf of the American Bar Association at hearings held by subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary considering the Federal Courts Improvement Acts of 1994, 1995, 1997 (testimony of May 26, 1994, March 14, 1996, and Oct. 9, 1997).
• "Insurance," chapter in Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, 3d ed. (2011) (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)
• "The New Frontier: Non-Products Coverage for Asbestos Claims," 12:16 Mealey's Litig. Reports: Insurance 17 (1998) (co-author)
• "An Overview of the Exxon Valdez Insurance Coverage Dispute," 5 Int'l Ins. L. Rev. 313 (October 1997)
• "Excess Defense Coverage and Long-Tail Liabilities," 32 Tort & Ins. L.J. 875 (1997)
• "Twenty Years of Litigation," 20 Litigation 6 (Fall 1993) (co-author)
• "Suddenly the Lexicographer: Dictionary Experts and the Pollution Exclusion," 4 Envtl. Claims J. 53 (1991)