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Susan S. Claflin
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Current Employment
  • Company:
    Claflin Consulting Services LLC
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    ARIAS-US certified Arbitrator and Umpire. Available to consult with the insurance and reinsurance community.

  • Address:
    1900 SE 2nd Street
    Unit 501PH
    Deerfield Beach, FLORIDA 33441 United States
  • Cell:
    203-907-9141
Offering Services as Expert Witness in:
Coverage / Contract Interpretation
Previous Employment
  • Company:
    Catalina U.S. - Alea, Danielson, PXRE and SPARTA companies, Hartford, CT
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the Alea, Danielson, PXRE and SPARTA companies, members of the Catalina group of companies. Member of the Board of Directors of Alea North America Insurance Company and SPARTA Specialty Insurance Company.

  • Company:
    Direct Response Corp., Meriden, CT
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary

    Responsible for all legal functions within Direct Response Corp., and its subsidiaries and affiliates, including Response Insurance and Teachers Insurance Plan of America, national direct personal lines automobile insurers. Additional responsibility for Human Resources and Facilities functions.

  • Company:
    Travelers, Hartford, CT
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Counsel and Insurance Executive with major property casualty insurer, including serving as:

    Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Travelers Property Casualty, a member of Travelers Group,

    Group General Counsel – Claim at St Paul Travelers,

    Executive Vice President – Special Liability Group and Liability, Property and Workers Compensation Major Case at Travelers Property Casualty,

    General Counsel – Special Liability Group.

    Responsible over time for all legal functions of the company, including reinsurance claim, coverage and litigation counsel; insurance claim and coverage counsel; contract, regulatory and compliance attorneys; all asbestos and environmental claims, litigation reinsurance and coverage litigation and related reserve studies. Major liability, property and workers compensation claims. Participated in analyst and investor conferences.

  • Company:
    Morrison, Mahoney & Miller
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Associate and Branch Office Manager

  • Company:
    Winer & Sulzbach, New Haven CT
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Associate

Credentials
  • Attorney:
    Yes
  • Education:
    ARIAS US Certified Arbitrator and Umpire, J.D. , admitted to practice law in Connecticut (retired) and Massachusetts (retired).
  • Degrees:
    J.D., B.A.
  • Other Information:
    Completed Center for Public Resource Advanced Mediator Training
Work Experience
  • Insurance Company: 26 years.
    Legal Department: 24 years. General Counsel, Group General Counsel, Counsel
    Claim Department: 2 years. General Counsel - Claim
  • Reinsurance Company: 5 years.
    Legal Department: 5 years.
  • Law Firm (Insurance/Reinsurance Practice): 7 years.
    Associate: 7 years. Associate, Branch Manager
Breakdown of Experience
  • Asbestos
    8%
  • Environmental/Pollution
    7%
  • Commercial Liability
    7%
  • Life
    6%
  • Captives/Risk Retention Groups
    6%
  • Commercial Property
    5%
  • Commutations
    5%
  • Toxic Tort
    5%
  • Automobile Liability/Property
    5%
  • Regulatory/Licensing
    5%
  • Bad Faith/ECO
    5%
  • Construction Defects
    5%
  • Workers' Compensation
    4%
  • Contract Wording
    3%
  • Personal Lines
    3%
  • Catastrophes (Property)
    2%
  • Product Liability
    2%
  • Product/Consumer Warranties
    2%
  • MGA/MGU
    2%
  • Catastrophes (Casualty)
    2%
  • Long Term Disability
    2%
  • Third Party Administrator
    2%
  • Healthcare
    1%
  • Intellectual Property
    1%
  • Accident & Health
    1%
  • Alternative/Self-Insurance/Risk Management
    1%
  • Aviation
    1%
  • Excess/Surplus Lines
    1%
By Market
  • U.S. Market:
    73%
  • U.K. Market:
    15%
  • Bermuda/Off-shore Market:
    5%
  • European Market:
    5%
  • Global Market:
    2%

Insurance vs. Reinsurance: 30/70%
Treaty vs. Facultative Reinsurance: 60/40%
Former Insurance or Reinsurance Company Officer
Former Insurance or Reinsurance Company Director

Mediation Experience
  • Number of Mediations
    As Counsel: 25+
ARIAS Experience

Workshops, as Faculty: 2; March 2011, September 2014

Workshops, as Trainee: 1; September 2004

Ethics Training, as Trainee: 1; January 2010

ARIAS Conference Faculty: 9; Spring 2006, Spring 2008, Fall 2009, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2017

Other Approved Training:

ARIAS Fall 2009 Educational Seminar - FACULTY
ARIAS Fall 2013 Educational Seminar - FACULTY

Arbitration Experience

Number of Arbitrations

As an Arbitrator: 203

As an Umpire: 7

As Employee Manager: 8

As Corporate Representative: 25

Arbitrator Experience
Number of Arbitrations
107
Appointed as an arbitrator.
25
Acted as an arbitrator through the organizational meeting or the arbitration has only reached this stage.
29
Acted as an arbitrator through the organizational meeting or the arbitration has only reached this stage and the resolution of significant pre-hearing motions.
11
Acted as an arbitrator through an evidentiary hearing of at least one full day and less than three full days regarding the substantive merits of the parties' dispute.
1
Acted as an arbitrator through an evidentiary hearing of at least three full days regarding the substantive merits of the parties' dispute.
5
Acted as an arbitrator through to final award after completion of an evidentiary hearing of at least one full day and less than three full days regarding the substantive merits of the parties' dispute.
25
Acted as an arbitrator through to final award after completion of an evidentiary hearing of at least three full days regarding the substantive merits of the parties' dispute.
Umpire Experience
Number of Arbitrations
2
Acted as an umpire through the organizational meeting or the arbitration has only reached this stage and the resolution of significant pre-hearing motions.
2
Acted as an umpire through an evidentiary hearing of at least one full day and less than three full days regarding the substantive merits of the parties' dispute.
1
Acted as an umpire through to final award after completion of an evidentiary hearing of at least one full day and less than three full days regarding the substantive merits of the parties' dispute.
2
Acted as an umpire through to final award after completion of an evidentiary hearing of at least three full days regarding the substantive merits of the parties' dispute.
Employee Manager Experience
Number of Arbitrations
3
Employee Manager of arbitration.
1
Employee Manager of arbitration through the organizational meeting or the arbitration has only reached this stage.
3
Employee Manager of arbitration through the organizational meeting or the arbitration has only reached this stage as well as significant motions before the panel, panel consultations, and interim awards, but not through the hearing briefs.
1
Employee Manager of arbitration through pre-hearing briefs.
Company Representative Experience
Number of Arbitrations
25
Not available or unwilling to provide. ARIAS recognizes that in an effort to protect the respective company(ies) that you work(ed) for, you may not be able to divulge the status of the arbitrations that you participated in. Indicate such arbitrations here.
Biography

Susan Claflin is an experienced insurance executive, former General Counsel, and attorney. She has held various legal and executive positions within the (re)insurance industry in P&C and Life companies. Ms. Claflin has extensive experience with asbestos, environmental, cumulative injury and major claims mediations, arbitrations and litigation. She has been involved in primary, excess, facultative, and treaty insurance and reinsurance issues related to general liability, workers compensation, and life insurance. Her expertise provides an excellent background for her work with Claflin Consulting Services LLC as an arbitrator, umpire, and consultant.

Ms. Claflin’s past executive positions include: General Counsel of the Alea (International P&C and life insurance and reinsurance), Danielson (California direct insurers and risk retention groups), PXRE (International insurance and reinsurance) and SPARTA (US direct and captive insurance) companies, members of the Catalina group of insurance and reinsurance companies, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Direct Response Corporation and its direct to consumer insurance subsidiaries, and various executive and legal positions at Travelers Property Casualty, including General Counsel, Group General Counsel – Claims, and Executive Vice President and the head of the Special Liability Group, responsible for all of the Company’s asbestos, environmental and cumulative injury claims, and the coverage litigation and reinsurance arbitrations arising out of such claims.

She was a key player in the 2002 asbestos reserve study in which the Company added significantly to its asbestos reserve in response to the changing claim and legal environment. At the same time, she was also responsible for the Company’s Liability, Property and Workers Compensation Major Case Units located throughout the country. Prior to joining Travelers, Ms. Claflin was an attorney in private practice.