44 (20) 342 362 97
650.328.9500
Susan Grondine-Dauwer, Esq.
Arbitrator & Mediator
I have over 25 years of legal and business experience in the insurance and reinsurance industry serving most recently as General Counsel and Chief Claims Officer as well as participation on executive management teams and several Boards of Directors. I have provided legal and strategic counsel to the highest levels of senior management and worked hand-in-hand with business clients on a myriad of claims, disputes, projects, and corporate transactions.
My responsibilities have included:
- Providing advice and strategic guidance to internal clients, senior management teams, and Boards of Directors regarding existing and emerging legal issues affecting company operations
- Representing the parent company and affiliates in mergers, acquisitions, dividend extractions, portfolio transfers and related corporate transactions
- Post-acquisition on-boarding of legacy portfolios
- Handling of corporate issues including filings and dealings with foreign and domestic regulators
- Preparing contracts for the provision of third party services
- Organizing and directing the activities of legal departments including staff management and retention of outside counsel
- Litigation and arbitration management as sole in-house legal counsel in over 300 insurance and ceded/assumed reinsurance disputes
- Legal oversight and project planning for company-wide asbestos and environmental reserve studies
- Advising claims staff regarding complex APH and general liability claims, coverage analysis and coverage disputes
- Opining on legal aspects of business decisions concerning contracts, claims and insured/reinsured/reinsurer relationships
- Identification and recreation of legacy ceded reinsurance programs
- Management of ceded reinsurance and regulatory audits
- Working with internal and external actuaries regarding exposure analysis, IBNR development, and forensic reviews
- Negotiation of claims, reinsurance collections and commutations with companies in the US, UK, Europe, Japan and South America
- Oversight of assumed and ceded reinsurance claim operations including targeted collections and commutations and dealings with insolvent estates
- Ensuring that business practices, policies and dealings of the companies met appropriate standards of good faith and fair dealing
I have also demonstrated an ability to effectively manage insurance and reinsurance assets through the resolution of complex claims, contract issues and substantial exposure disputes. And I have an established track record of initiating and driving continuous improvement to claim reduction, cash collections and surplus.
Achievements include:
- Resolution of over a dozen litigation and arbitration matters/awards inherited upon acquisition of a reinsurance company portfolio – with discount
- Award in multi-year ceded arbitration protecting $350M in treaty reinsurance and defeating claims for rescission
- Commutations of significant exposures with distressed counterparties, both domestically and internationally, which reduced the companies’ ceded roster from 4,000 reinsurers to under 250
- Collection of over $2B in reinsurance assets for an excess and surplus lines insurer
- Identification and recreation of dormant reinsurance programs for additional asset collections
- Project closing over 3,500 assumed reinsurance claims
- Creation of star-up units to handle corporate legal needs, ceded reinsurance audits and dedicated collection teams
- Negotiation and award of reductions/discounts against legacy exposures through forensic underwriting and accounting research and reconstruction
Subject matter expertise includes:
- Legacy underwriting and placement issues
- Regulation of discontinued operations
- Excess and Surplus lines, MGA and program business
- Workers Compensation premium, coverage and claims disputes
- General liability claims
- Asbestos and Environmental tort
- Reinsurance contract wording
EMPLOYMENT DETAILS
R&Q SOLUTIONS LLC 2006-2013
Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Chief Claims Officer
R&Q Solutions is the US subsidiary of Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings, a publicly traded company which provides underwriting, captive and run-off services to the international insurance and reinsurance markets. Companies under management in the US include R&Q Reinsurance Company, Transport Reinsurance Company, Goldstreet Insurance Company and Excess and Treaty Management Corporation.
Director, Vice President and Assistant Secretary
R&Q Reinsurance Company, Transport Insurance Company and Goldstreet Insurance Company
HORIZON MANAGEMENT GROUP LLC 1995-2006
First Vice President and Counsel
Horizon is a member of The Hartford Financial Services Group and was created to manage the Group’s discontinued operations including First State Insurance Company, New England Insurance Company, New England Reinsurance Corporation, Excess Insurance Company and Hart Re Company.
Director, Vice President and Assistant Secretary
First State Insurance Company, New England Reinsurance Corporation, New England Insurance Company and Hartford Fire Insurance Company
LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY 1987-1995
Counsel
Positions held first in the Home Office Legal Department, Litigation Unit and the (then newly created) Environmental Department.
OTHER LEGAL AND INDUSTRY ACTIVITIES
Frequent speaker and participant at conferences and seminars sponsored by, among others, ARIAS*US, AIRROC, NYC Bar Association, Massachusetts Reinsurance Bar Association, and several for-profit educational/conference providers
Current member of ARIAS*US, AIRROC, the Massachusetts Reinsurance Bar Association, and the National Association of Professional Women