Best's Recommended Insurance Attorneys - General Defense
- Telephone: 850-577-0398
- Fax: 850-577-0385
- E-Mail: wstrickland@colodnyfass.com
- Website: www.colodnyfass.com
Practice Areas
- Insurance Litigation
- Insurance Defense
- Commercial Litigation
- Government Affairs
- Insurance Regulation
- Appellate Practice
About Us
Colodny Fass law firm has represented national and international insurance clients in regulatory compliance, transactional, administrative and compliance matters throughout the United States for over 45 years. The Firm also handles insurance defense, complex commercial litigation, and governmental affairs in Florida from two offices spanning the state-a South Florida headquarters, and another office just one block from Florida's Capitol in Tallahassee.
Clients have included property and casualty insurers, surplus lines insurers, life and health insurers, reinsurers, captives, risk retention groups, risk purchasing groups, brokers, associations, managing general agencies, agents, reinsurance intermediaries, premium finance companies, among other insurance-related entities.
With significant regulatory experience involving a wide range of issues, Colodny Fass also handles corporate formation and financing; mergers and acquisitions; adding lines of business; state expansion applications; market conduct and financial examinations; financial issues; statutory accounting procedures; risk-based capital levels; capital infusion issues; rate, form and rule filings. The Firm also serves the legal and regulatory needs of insurers in their dealings with insurance agents, agencies, reinsurers, brokers and vendors.
Colodny Fass lawyers have supervised multi-state compliance surveys and licensing matters for insurance companies, third-party administrators, managing general agents, wholesale brokers, reinsurance intermediaries, pharmacy benefits managers, insurance agencies, life settlement companies, as well as for manufacturers and sellers of service contracts and extended warranties. The Firm routinely handles regulatory issues including Insurance Holding Company Act compliance, company formation, multi-state expansion, corporate amendments, investment limitations, credit for reinsurance analysis, and transactions with affiliates.
Colodny Fass manages a wide variety of complex corporate and transactional matters for domestic and international insurers, holding companies and investors, including mergers and acquisitions, start-ups, stock offerings, restructurings, mutual holding company conversions, joint ventures and reinsurance transactions. The Firm's attorneys also prepare insurance contracts and negotiate a wide variety of contracts and agreements, including managing general agent agreements, third-party administrator agreements, insurance agency and broker agreements, cost allocation agreements, IT vendor agreements, and joint insurance marketing and affinity marketing agreements.
As experienced practitioners of administrative law, Colodny Fass has served as lead counsel and supervised numerous actions before Florida regulatory agencies such as the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, Florida Department of Financial Services and Division of Administrative Hearings involving rule challenges and hearings related to disputes over form and rate filings, and license disciplinary matters, including appeals of those actions.
On a daily basis for many clients, Colodny Fass renders insurance regulatory legal services pertaining to:
- Corporate governance
- Risk analysis
- Regulatory compliance issues
- Preparation of documentation for data calls
- Affiliate transactions
- Debt and equity structuring and documentation
- Reinsurance
- Solvency matters
- Licensure and expansion issues
- Financial and market conduct examinations
- Drafting of agent and agency appointment agreements and notices, as well as vendor and supplier contractual arrangements
- Review of underwriting manuals to ensure compliance with regulatory and statutory mandates
- Assisting actuaries in defending proposed rates at administrative hearings
- Review and negotiation of regulatory consent orders
- Drafting, review and amending of policy forms
- Drafting of compliant forms of required notices such as cancellation and non-renewal notices
- Participation in all stages of rulemaking proceedings
- Review and research on proposed legislation and administrative rules, and the reporting on the potential consequences thereof
- Report on the effects of adopted administrative rules, legislation
Named during consecutive years as one of South Florida's "Power Bankers," Mr. Colodny is known for his keen understanding of the financial and accounting implications of complex transactions. Together with other members of the Firm's Insurance Regulatory practice, such as Wes Strickland, he handles all aspects of transactions relating to mergers and acquisitions for both public and private companies.
Colodny Fass brings extensive experience with not only Citizens, but the regulation and operations of insurers and similar residual markets throughout the United States.
The Firm also advises insurers, reinsurers and reinsurance intermediaries on a number of contractual, legal and regulatory issues related to reinsurance plans, structures and transactions. These include reinsurer authorization, accreditation and eligibility issues; reinsurance contract, trust and collateral issues; alternate risk transfer mechanisms; holding company and affiliate agreement standards, solvency concerns; and litigation risk. Colodny Fass lawyers also provide strategic planning and implementation of a variety of initiatives, such as withdrawal plans; runoffs; renewal rights arrangements; reinsurance and alternate risk transfer programs financial stability issues; and other operational and marketing programs.
Colodny Fass reinsurance attorneys and consultants have been involved in arbitrations and have assisted clients in resolving disputes, working with regulatory authorities, and successfully managing complex, multiparty work out arrangements. These have included runoffs; commutations; assumptions; withdrawal plan arrangements; capitalization and financing arrangements; receivership, insolvency and liquidation matters; as well as other affiliate and third-party contractual alternatives.
The Firm advises clients on the formation of captive insurance entities within their holding company groups and in other third-party contexts, such as agency captives, association captives and otherwise; evaluate on behalf of various insurer and non-insurer organizations the laws of a variety of jurisdictions pertaining to the benefits of captive formation in those jurisdictions; and aid in strategic planning applicable to the formation of captive insurers, the development of a project plan and the formation and licensure of captive insurers.
For insurers' agents, agencies and brokers, Colodny Fass has handled licensing and liability, commission-related matters, disclosure and confidentiality requirements, coverage disputes, errors and omissions, insurance solvency concerns, investigations and disciplinary proceedings, contract disputes, trade practices, compliance, ethics, discrimination or coercion complaints, as well as new challenges like cyber-risk and social media-driven disputes.
The Firm's work with agents and brokers has focused on preventing unnecessary errors and omissions litigation, thus stemming exposure from claims involving breach of duty, misrepresentation, bad faith, fraud or inadequate coverage, or even criminal penalties. In these types of cases, Colodny Fass' relationships with regulatory agencies is a valuable aspect of our work. The Firm's attorneys have been called upon by agents' organizations like the Florida Association of Insurance Agents, Latin American Association of Insurance Agencies and the National African American Insurance Association to counsel their members on best practices-not only in day-to-day business, but in all areas of the law, including fiduciary duties, ethics, contractual obligations and special relationships.
Similar to insurance company licensure, Colodny Fass provides assistance in all aspects of agency formation, as well as adjustors and producers in multiple states.
Colodny Fass' Governmental Consulting Division, which is ranked annually among the top lobbying firms in Florida, serves insurance clients before the executive and legislative branches of the State of Florida, as well as its regulatory agencies and those of other state governments.
The Firm's clients have even included public and governmental entities such as Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Florida's Insurance Commissioner, Governor, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and Division of Insurance Rehabilitation and Liquidation.
Experienced in litigating complex and sophisticated commercial matters, Colodny Fass, which was named as "Litigation Department of the Year" in South Florida by the Daily Business Review, successfully represents a wide variety of business interests in legal matters relating to insurance, including banks and real estate developers. The Firm specializes in the defense of class action insurance litigation, bad faith claims, constitutional challenges, declaratory judgments and other high-risk matters.
In matters of employment law, Colodny Fass has represented private and public employers in Title VII, ADA and ADEA claims encompassing age, national origin, race, gender and disability discrimination.
Additional Locations
- Sunrise, Florida
- 1401 N.W. 136th Avenue, Suite 200
- Sunrise, Florida 33323
- Telephone: 954-492-4010
- Fax: 954-492-1144
- E-Mail: mcolodny@colodnyfass.com
(See profile under Sunrise, FL for additional information)
Contact Our Team | About Best's Insurance Professional Resources | FAQs | Qualification Guidelines | Important Notice