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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 more than 25 years 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, fiduciary, intellectual property, mass tort, professional liability, shareholder, and toxic tort 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. 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
- D&O insurance representations include corporate and individual policyholders on claims-resolution, coverage, and renewal issues. He also has extensive D&O coverage litigation experience, including as lead counsel to policyholders in such cases as Houston Casualty Co. v. Sprint Nextel Corp., 2010 WL 4852649 (E.D. Va. 2010) (inapplicability of "loss" defense to coverage for securities lawsuit), NFL v. Vigilant Ins. Co., 824 N.Y.S.2d. 72 (1st Dep't 2006) (inapplicability of employment practices exclusion to antitrust claim), Owens Corning v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., 257 F.3d. 484 (6th Cir. 2001) (rejecting allocation and other insurer defenses to final judgment for policyholder), and Owens Corning v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., 1998 WL 774109 (6th Cir. 1998) (inapplicability of asbestos exclusion to securities action).
- In the mass-tort field, he has litigated and arbitrated coverage disputes concerning medical devices and pharmaceutical products for Cardinal Health, Dow Corning, and Eli Lilly. 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 "products" and "non-products" asbestos claims over many years both prior to and during the company's bankruptcy reorganization proceedings, including securing an arbitration award against a single carrier valued at $300 million and successfully handling numerous other coverage cases for the company in various trial and appellate courts.
- 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; and President Clinton in connection with coverage for the Paula Jones litigation.
Honors and Rankings
- Benchmark (2011) (Insurance Litigation Star)
- The Best Lawyers in America (2011-2012) (for Arbitration, Commercial Litigation, Insurance Law, International Arbitration, and Mediation)
- Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2011) (ranked in Band 1 for Insurance both nationally and in DC; listed in Chambers USA continuously since 2003)
- The Legal 500 US (2011) (Insurance)
- Legal Media Group's Guide to the World's Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers (2009) and Guide to the World's Leading Litigation Lawyers (2010)
- The Practical Law Company (PLC) (2011) (Insurance: Policyholder-Led Practices)
- Washingtonian, Best Lawyers (2011)
- 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) 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 (1994-2004) and Washington Council Member (1993-2009)
- Law360, Insurance Editorial Advisory Board (2011)
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, 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)
- "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)
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