Mitchell F. Dolin

• Lead counsel to Duke University in recovering, without recourse to litigation, $55 million in insurance proceeds for the defense and settlement of an antitrust class action, representation of Duke in securing summary judgment confirming coverage for a subsequent antitrust class action settlement, Duke University v. Endurance Risk Solutions Assurance Co., No. 5:20-CV-672 (E.D.N.C. 2022), and representation of Duke in its 2024 resolution of a lawsuit concerning coverage for the settlement of a third antitrust class action.
• Representation of the NFL for nearly twenty-five years as lead insurance counsel in matters concerning general liability coverage for mass tort claims, management and media liability coverage for antitrust and intellectual property lawsuits, and event cancellation insurance for rescheduled games. Reported cases include: a pending lawsuit that all but four of more than 30 insurers have settled concerning coverage for the NFL’s class action resolution of concussion-related claims, Alterra Am. Ins. Co. v. NFL, 191 A.D.3d 496 (1st Dep’t 2021) (successfully argued against insurer challenge to privilege before special referee, trial court, and appeals court); and a prior lawsuit securing defense cost coverage for Maurice Clarett’s antitrust lawsuit challenging player eligibility rules, NFL v. Vigilant, 36 A.D.3d 207 (1st Dep’t 2006).
• Lead counsel to international consulting firms, AmLaw 100 law firms, and other entities pursuing coverage for claims arising from their provision of professional services, including Booz Allen Hamilton, McKinsey & Company, S&P Global, and other clients.
• Lead counsel to numerous public companies in securing coverage under D&O policies for securities class actions and other lawsuits, including representation of Sprint Nextel in securing funding by insurers for a shareholder class action settlement and then persuading a federal court to reject one insurer’s subsequent attempt to claw back its full limits payment towards the settlement, Houston Cas. Co. v. Sprint, 2010 WL 4852649 (E.D. Va. 2010). 
• Lead counsel to Owens Corning in a series of lawsuits, arbitrations, and mediations that yielded recoveries of approximately $1.5 billion for asbestos tort claims and other losses, including prevailing as lead trial counsel on a $250 million claim in a Wellington Agreement arbitral proceeding, serving as special insurance counsel during the Chapter 11 proceedings that culminated in Owens Corning’s reorganization, and successfully arguing three U.S. Court of Appeals cases for the company, including one in which the Sixth Circuit refused to preclude coverage for mass tort defense costs despite contrary Second and Seventh Circuit precedent involving similar excess policy language and another refusing to apply an asbestos exclusion to bar D&O coverage for a securities class lawsuit that used the word “asbestos” more than 75 times in the operative pleading.
• Lead or co-lead counsel to numerous policyholders seeking coverage for mass tort claims in domestic and international insurance arbitrations, including Cardinal Health, Dow Corning, and Eli Lilly; for Dow Corning, he persuaded the U.S. Court of Appeals to treat an adverse 2:1 arbitral award as a non-binding prelude to litigation, Dow Corning v. Safety National, 335 F.3d 742 (8th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1219 (2004).
• Lead counsel to UBS Real Estate Investments, the mortgage lender to the retail leaseholder at the World Trade Center, in the landmark 9/11 property insurance litigation, WTC Properties v. Hartford Fire, 345 F.3d 154 (2d Cir. 2003).
• Represented then-President Clinton in pursuing and resolving coverage claim concerning costs incurred in private-party litigation.
• Representation of Exxon in coverage litigation and international arbitration resulting in insurance recoveries of $780 million for Valdez-related losses.
• Lead counsel to AfricInvest, a Tunis-headquartered private equity firm, in a political risk claim against the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency.
• Representation of amici in numerous precedent-setting coverage cases, including J.P. Morgan v. Vigilant, 183 N.E.3d 443 (NY 2021); Goodyear v. Aetna, 769 N.E. 835 (Ohio 2002); Frontier Construction v. Merchants, 690 N.E.2d 866 (NY 1997); and North River v. CIGNA Re, 52 F.3d 1194 (3d Cir. 1995).
• Represented Union Pacific in the defense of antitrust lawsuit filed against various Western railroads by an unsuccessful coal slurry pipeline promoter, In re Burlington Northern, Inc., 822 F.2d 518 (5th Cir.1987).
• Represented leading business trade groups as amici successfully urging the U.S. Supreme Court to renounce the “intra-enterprise conspiracy” doctrine in Copperweld v. Independence Tube, 467 U.S. 752 (1984).

Pro Bono Matters

• Represented organizations advocating as amici curiae in defense of gun control measures in various federal appellate cases, including in U.S. v. Castleman, 572 U.S. 157 (2014) and Woollard v. Gallagher, 712 F.3d 585 (4th Cir. 2013).
• Successfully argued for vacation of client's death sentence before the Mississippi Supreme Court in State v. Tokman, 564 So. 2d 1339 (Miss. 1990), and represented client in subsequent trial court proceedings, which led to the recusal of the entire Hinds County District Attorney’s office and ultimately a negotiated plea.
• Represented amici curiae in Supreme Court cases involving civil rights issues, including in McMillian v. Monroe County, 520 U.S. 781 (1997), Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, 491 U.S. 164 (1989), Shaare Tefila Congregation v. Cobb, 481 U.S. 615 (1987), 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).