A significant part of Shapiro, Rodarte & Freedman LLP's practice focuses on the management and resolution of large, "mass tort" losses implicating insurance coverage on a nationwide (and worldwide) basis. When, for example, an SR&F client finds itself facing hundreds or thousands of personal injury claims arising out of an allegedly defective product, SR&F assists the client in a variety of ways to control and minimize the financial impact of the prospective loss.

Companies facing "mass tort" losses typically assume that the only way to collect substantial sums of money from insurance companies in these situations is through protracted and expensive litigation. The outcome of such litigation, however, can often be uncertain, and the cost of waging legal warfare may exacerbate the cash flow problems already afflicting the company as a result of its attempt to contain and resolve the loss. SR&F has therefore pioneered alternative courses of action for achieving insurance recoveries for its clients.

Treating the insurance carriers as "business partners" of the client/insured, SR&F strives to understand the business issues facing the carriers (e.g., reinsurance concerns) and seeks ways to satisfy the objectives of both client and carrier without the need to resort to full-scale litigation. Whenever possible to do so, SR&F crafts creative coverage-in-place programs which provide for continuous, periodic reimbursement of the client's covered losses as they occur. While insurance carriers typically disfavor such programs, SR&F has often been able to overcome such resistance by fashioning programs that benefit not only the client but the carriers as well.

SR&F also creates and implements practical, effective claims handling agreements in furtherance of its "partnership" approach with the client's insurers. These agreements typically confirm the manner in which the defense of open claims will be directed and controlled, and establish the parameters within which the insured may settle claims without jeopardizing coverage for the resulting payments. SR&F then works closely with the client's defense and in-house counsel to monitor developments in the loss and to provide regular reports of those developments to the affected carriers.

To facilitate reimbursement of loss payments from the carriers, SR&F develops a billing system that meets the needs of the client as well as its carriers. The firm typically oversees such billing systems, responds to carrier inquiries, arranges and supervises carrier audits and monitors collections from the carriers.

By building a bridge between policyholder and insurer, SR&F has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in voluntary insurance payments in some of the most controversial mass tort cases of our times, including mammary implants, blood products, environmental hazards and asbestos.