menu
Profile
Robert A. Whitney
vCard vCard
Current Employment
  • Company:
    Neighborhood Health Plan
  • Address:
    399 Revolution Drive
    Somerville, MASSACHUSETTS 02145
  • Cell:
    617-335-1380
  • Email:
    rawhitney@gmail.com
Previous Employment
  • Company:
    Sparhawk Advisors
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Principal. Provide legal guidance and financial exposure analyses to companies regarding insurance and reinsurance claims. Provide arbitrator services.

  • Company:
    Massachusetts Division of Insurance
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel. Provided advice to the Commissioner of Insurance, Chief Counsel to the Governor, and other state agencies and members of the legislature concerning the interpretation and administration of the state’s insurance laws.

  • Company:
    White & Williams LLP
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Of Counsel in the Commercial Litigation Department and a member of the Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Practice Group. Practice includes complex insurance coverage, reinsurance, bad faith, and commercial litigation. Extensive experience in negotiating the resolution of disputed coverage claims and has counseled insurance and reinsurance company clients on claims litigation strategy, claims resolution procedures, and coverage questions.

  • Company:
    Resolute Management, Inc., New England Division
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Assistant Vice-President and Associate General Counsel at Resolute Management, a Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group company, which provides claims management services to insurers and reinsurers. Managed litigation and arbitration for direct claims and reinsurance matters involving environmental, asbestos, toxic and mass torts, D&O, E&O, bad faith, employment practices liability, and product liability claims. Represented ceding companies and reinsurers as counsel in reinsurance litigation and arbitration, including OneBeacon Insurance Company, Seaton Insurance Company, Stonewall Insurance Company, National Indemnity Company, and National Fire & Marine Company.

  • Company:
    Cavell USA
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Associate General Counsel at Cavell, a member of the Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings Group, a service provider to the London, US and international insurance markets. Managed insurance and reinsurance arbitration and litigation matters. Represented Legal Group on Cavell Management Committee.

  • Company:
    Seaton Insurance Company and Stonewall Insurance Company
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Corporate Secretary

  • Company:
    Transport Insurance Company
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Member, Board of Directors;
    Corporate Secretary

  • Company:
    Holland & Knight LLP
  • Position(s) and Responsibilities:

    Partner and Chair of the Insurance Coverage Practice Group. Advised clients in the areas of insurance and reinsurance law, insurance policy interpretation and reconstruction, regulatory, compliance and insurance claims handling practices on behalf of insurers and policyholders. Litigated insurance disputes in both state and federal courts, and in arbitration.

Credentials
  • Attorney:
    Yes
  • Education:
    Brown University; Boston University School of Law
  • Degrees:
    AB Honors, 1981; JD - G. Joseph Tauro Scholar, 1984
  • Designations:
    Licenced in Commonwealth of Massachusetts; United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts; Central District of Illinois; United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; Supreme Court of the United States.
  • Other Information:
    25+ years of experience in all areas of insurance coverage and reinsurance disputes. Retainer is refundable and no cancellation fee is charged.
Work Experience
  • Insurance Company: 11 years.
    Legal Department: 6 years. Associate General Counsel; Assistant Vice President
    Corporate Secretary:5 years. Compliance
  • Reinsurance Company: 10 years.
    Legal Department: 6 years. Associate General Counsel; Assistant Vice President
    Corporate Secretary: 4 years. Corporate Secretary
  • Law Firm (Insurance/Reinsurance Practice): 18 years.
    Partner: 7 years. Partner, Holland & Knight, Chair of Insurance Coverage Practice Group; Partner, Warner & Stackpole, Member, Insurance Law Practice Group
    Associate: 10 years. Associate, Warner & Stackpole; Associate, Day, Berry & Howard (now Day Pitney); Associate, Peabody & Brown (now Nixon Peabody)
    Counsel: 1 year. Of Counsel, White and Williams LLP, Member of Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Practice Group
Breakdown of Experience
  • Environmental/Pollution
    30%
  • Asbestos
    30%
  • Excess/Surplus Lines
    10%
  • Product Liability
    10%
  • Employment Practices Liability
    10%
  • Bad Faith/ECO
    5%
  • Commercial Liability
    5%
By Market
  • U.S. Market:
    80%
  • U.K. Market:
    20%

Insurance vs. Reinsurance: 70/30%
Treaty vs. Facultative Reinsurance: 60/40%

Mediation Experience
  • Number of Mediations
    As Mediator: 1
    As Counsel: 6
ARIAS Experience

Workshops, as Trainee: 1; March 2009

Ethics Training, as Trainee: 1; July 2009; December 2011

ARIAS Conference Faculty: 1; Fall 2013

Arbitration Experience

Number of Arbitrations

As Outside Counsel: 12

As Employee Manager: 16

Lead Counsel Experience
Number of Arbitrations
6
Retained and Acted as Lead Counsel, up to, but not including, the organizational meeting or the arbitration has only reached this stage.
3
Acted as Lead Counsel through the organizational meeting or the arbitration has only reached this stage.
2
Acted as Lead Counsel through the organizational meeting or the arbitration has only reached this stage and the resolution of significant pre-hearing motions.
1
Acted as Lead Counsel 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.
Employee Manager Experience
Number of Arbitrations
8
Employee Manager of arbitration.
4
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 evidentiary hearing of at least three full day regarding the substantive merits of the parties' dispute.
Biography

Robert A. Whitney is an ARIAS Certified Arbitrator, with over 25 years of experience in the insurance and reinsurance industry. Mr. Whitney is currently a partner at the law firm Sulloway & Hollis PLLC in its Insurance and Reinsurance Practice Group, where he represents and advises insurers, cedents and reinsurers regarding reinsurance and insurance issues.

Previously, Mr. Whitney was the Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel of the Massachusetts Division of Insurance. Before that, Mr. Whitney was of counsel in the White and Williams Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Practice Group, and he has also served as Assistant Vice-President and Associate General Counsel at Resolute Management, a Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group company, where he managed litigation and arbitration for direct claims and reinsurance matters, and represented ceding companies and reinsurers as counsel in reinsurance arbitration.

Mr. Whitney also served as Associate General Counsel at Cavell USA, a member of the Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings Group, where he managed insurance and reinsurance arbitration and litigation matters. Mr. Whitney has also served as Corporate Secretary for the Seaton Insurace Company, the Stonewal Insurnace Company and the Transport Insurance Company, where he also was on the Board of Directors.

Prior to his joining Cavell, Mr. Whitney was a partner and Chair of the Insurance Coverage Practice Group at the law firm Holland & Knight LLP. He has also served as President of the Massachusetts Insurance and Reinsurance Bar Association.

Mr. Whitney received his A.B. degree with honors from Brown University and his J.D. degree from Boston University School of Law, where he was a G. Joseph Tauro Scholar.