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Debra J. Hall
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Personal Information
  • Address:
    150 Russell Avenue
    PO Box 1110
    Rockport, MAINE 04856 United States
  • Cell:
    202-746-1303
  • Email:
    debra@hallarbitrations.com
Credentials
  • Attorney:
    Yes
  • Education:
    Juris Doctor, John Marshall Law School, 1980; B.A. Southern Illinois University, 1977; Mediation and Settlement Skills from Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law. Member of the Illinois and District of Columbia bars. Admitted to practice law in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (including trial bar); Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and United States Supreme Court. Licensed and active attorney in Illinois, District of Columbia and Maine.
  • Degrees:
    Juris Doctor, Bachelor of Arts (Political Science)
  • Designations:
    ARIAS US Certified Arbitrator. An original organizer of ARIAS on behalf of RAA. Organizer and Founding Member of Reinsurance Industry Arbitration Task Force (1999 through 2004). Co-Chair of Mealeys; (now HB Litigation Conferences) Reinsurance and Insolvency Roundtable (2009 through 2011). Chair of the NAIC Reinsurance Task Force Interested Persons (2005 through 2008). Chair of the American Council of Life Insurers International Committee IAIS Task Force (2008). Member of three person delegation representing the U.S. Department of Commerce to open Brazils reinsurance market. Member of nine person committee of the Interstate Insurance Receivership Compact Commission to draft the Uniform Receivership Law. Member of two ABA Task Forces focused on regulatory modernization (1992-1995 and 2004 to 2010). Industry member appointed to the IAIS Reinsurance Transparency Group to create a global reinsurance statistics report for the Financial Stability Forum (G7 financial ministers)(2003 to 2008). Frequent author and speaker on a variety of industry topics in the U.S. and abroad. Frequent instructor on reinsurance issues to the (re)insurance industry, U.S. and foreign regulators, The Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Department of Treasury and Brazils Ministry of Finance. Guest instructor at the University of Dallas and John Marshall Law School. Moot court competition judge, including regional finals.
  • Other Information:
    Principal author of the RAA Manual for the Resolution of Reinsurance Disputes while General Counsel of the RAA.

    Principal author of the industry’s Procedures for the Resolution of U.S. Insurance and Reinsurance Disputes, 1999 and 2004 versions. Participated in the 2009 update.

    Books produced and annually updated by the RAA Law Department under Debra Hall’s supervision as General Counsel include: Compendium of Reinsurance Laws and Regulations; Digest of Reinsurance Case Law; Reinsurance Contract Clauses – Case Law Annotations.

    Recipient of Swiss Re's first "Play as One" award for outstanding teamwork in the Brazil reinsurance market.

    Retained as an umpire 7 times and a party or court appoint party arbitrator 17 times.
    Retained as an expert witness 9 times/consultant 6 times.
    Appointed as a Special Master regarding attorney/client privilege and work product doctrine.
    Appointed as mock arbitrator.
Work Experience
  • Reinsurance Company: 4 years.
    Legal Department: 4 years. Senior Vice President and Senior Regulatory Counsel
  • Insurance-related Firms: 20 years.
    Consultant: 15 years. Senior Vice President & General Counsel , RAA SVP and General Counsel - Law Department
    Run-off Manager: 5 years. Chief General Counsel , Illinois OSD, SVP and General Counsel - Law / Claims
  • Independent/Other Relevant Experience: 18 years.
    Other : 5 years. SPSG Co-Founder/Owner Technology Law
    Independent/Unaffiliated Arbitrator, Umpire and/or Mediator: 13 years. Hall Arbitrations and expert witness work
Breakdown of Experience
  • Regulatory/Licensing
    35%
  • Insolvencies
    20%
  • Life
    20%
  • Contract Wording
    20%
  • Finite
    5%
By Market
  • U.S. Market:
    40%
  • U.K. Market:
    10%
  • Bermuda/Off-shore Market:
    20%
  • European Market:
    20%
  • Global Market:
    10%

Insurance vs. Reinsurance: 20/80%
Treaty vs. Facultative Reinsurance: 75/25%
Former Insurance or Reinsurance Company Officer

ARIAS Experience

Workshops, as Trainee: 1; March 2009

Ethics Training, as Trainee: 1; May 2010

ARIAS Conference Faculty: 1; Spring 2012

Arbitration Experience

Number of Arbitrations

As an Arbitrator: 17

As an Umpire: 7

Arbitrator Experience
Number of Arbitrations
4
Appointed as an arbitrator.
4
Acted as an arbitrator through the organizational meeting or the arbitration has only reached this stage.
4
Acted as an arbitrator through the organizational meeting or the arbitration has only reached this stage and the resolution of significant pre-hearing motions.
1
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.
4
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.
Umpire Experience
Number of Arbitrations
1
Acted as an umpire through the organizational meeting or the arbitration has only reached this stage.
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 an evidentiary hearing of at least 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 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 three full days regarding the substantive merits of the parties' dispute.
Biography

Debra Hall is an attorney, former senior executive and officer of both p/c and life companies. She was also an executive and chief counsel for the Illinois receivership office in which she rehabilitated and liquidated both p/c and life companies. Debra is an ARIAS-U.S. Certified Arbitrator. She completed formal mediation training at the Strauss Dispute Resolution Institute at Pepperdine Law School; was responsible for the RAAs Manual for the Resolution of Reinsurance Disputes; and the founder/creator of the task force that established the industry Procedures for the Resolution of Insurance and Reinsurance Disputes. She was among the original group establishing ARIAS U.S. and on the first Nominating Committee.

Former Senior Vice President for Swiss Re (both p/c and life). Former Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA). Former Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the Illinois Receivers Office. Former government litigator/supervisor (7.5 years), including Deputy General Counsel of Illinois state agency. Former Special Assistant Attorney General. Extensive trial experience as lead counsel, class actions and briefing/ hearings on dispositive motions.

Lead trial counsel on the successful Integrity claim estimation/acceleration litigation on behalf of reinsurance industry.

Debra has been appointed a Special Master in arbitration on attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine.