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Mitchell Dolin, a partner in the firm's Washington office and chair of the firm's global insurance recovery practice, focuses on the litigation, arbitration, and mediation of complex insurance coverage cases. In his 25-year career at Covington, 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, securities, shareholder derivative, and toxic tort claims. Mr. Dolin, who for several years chaired the firm’s arbitration practice group, has served as both an advocate and a panel member in domestic and international arbitrations and has litigated arbitration-related questions in the courts. He has published and lectured on numerous arbitration, insurance, 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
- Previous representations include: pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in coverage lawsuits and arbitrations; Cardinal Health and Sprint Nextel in directors-and-officers insurance coverage litigation; Owens Corning in a series of matters yielding recoveries of nearly $1.5 billion for coverage of asbestos and other liabilities or losses, including as special counsel in the company's bankruptcy proceedings; 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; and defendants in antitrust lawsuits concerning coal transportation and international fragrance markets.
- Recent appeals in which Mr. Dolin successfully presented oral argument include: National Football League v. Vigilant Ins. Co., 824 N.Y.S.2d 72 (1st Dep't 2006) (refusing to apply policy exclusion to bar coverage for antitrust action); Dow Corning Corp. v. Safety National Cas. Co., 335 F.3d 742 (8th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1219 (2004) (holding under Federal Arbitration Act that arbitral award was non-binding and did not preclude litigation of claim); Owens Corning v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., 257 F.3d 484 (6th Cir. 2001) (affirming judgment awarding D&O coverage for securities class action settlement).
Honors and Rankings
- The Best Lawyers in America (2010) (for ADR, Commercial Litigation, Insurance Law, and International Arbitration)
- Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2009) (ranked in Band 1 for Insurance both nationally and in DC; listed in Chambers USA since 2003)
- The Practical Law Company (PLC) - Insurance and Reinsurance, The Law and Leading Lawyers Worldwide (2010)
- The Legal 500 US (2010) (Litigation/Insurance and Litigation/International Arbitration)
- Legal Media Group's Guide to the World's Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers (2008) 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)
- 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.
- 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).
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 Judicature Society, Board Member (1998-2004)
- American Law Institute, Member (elected 1992)
- 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 (1994-2004) and Washington Council Member (1993-2009)
Publications and Speeches
- Lectured and/or presented papers on arbitration, litigation, and insurance 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, 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
- "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), Author
- "Excess Defense Coverage and Long-Tail Liabilities," 32 Tort & Ins. L.J. 875 (1997), Author
- "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), Author
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