Locke Lord Named 2016 Law Firm of the Year in Insurance Law By U.S. News/Best Lawyers; Receives 16 Practice Area National Tier 1 Rankings, 12 Metropolitan Tier 1 Rankings

November 2, 2015 – Locke Lord has earned the distinction of being named “2016 Law Firm of the Year in Insurance Law” by U.S. News/Best Lawyers® in the publications’ annual review of the country’s legal industry. In addition, the Firm received National Tier 1 rankings for 16 practice areas, while 12 of its domestic offices earned Metropolitan Tier 1 status from the survey’s researchers.

Only one law firm in each practice area covered by the survey earns “Law Firm of the Year” honors from U.S. News/Best Lawyers.

“This recognition of our Insurance Practice reflects the value of the Locke Lord, Edwards Wildman merger earlier this year that brought together two highly-regarded law firms in the insurance and reinsurance industry that have been recognized for excellence in regulation, insolvency and litigation not only in the U.S., but in the London and Bermuda markets, too,“ said Locke Lord Chair Jerry Clements. “This combination provided us the resources needed to maintain our high standard of representing our insurance clients on complex transactions and critical issues across the country and around the world as we have been doing for more than 100 years.

“With our broader global footprint and deeper bench strength, U.S. News/Best Lawyers has confirmed our position as a pre-eminent law firm representing the interests of the insurance industry.”

In addition to its “Law Firm of the Year in Insurance Law” recognition from U.S. News/Best Lawyers, Locke Lord’s National Tier 1 Practice Areas included Appellate Practice; Banking and Finance Law; Commercial Litigation; Corporate Law; Employment Law – Management; Energy Law; Environmental Law; Insurance Law; Litigation - Intellectual Property; Litigation – Patent; Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy); Mergers & Acquisitions Law; Oil & Gas Law; Patent Law; Real Estate Law and Tax Law.

Locke Lord’s Insurance Practices – led by Co-Chairs Jon Biasetti, Brian Casey and Nick DiGiovanni – have more than 70 lawyers with broad experience that touches on every aspect of the insurance and reinsurance industries in practice areas that include regulatory and transactional insurance litigation and counseling, aviation and insurance commercial litigation.

The Firm’s insurance teams focus on representing insurance industry participants ranging from publicly-traded, international insurers to family-owned insurance agencies, including traditional insurance business clients such as insurers, producers, premium finance companies, third-party administrators, managing general agencies, captives and other alternative risk transfer entities, state insurance guaranty funds and state insurance departments. The teams also represent other business entities in connection with their subsidiary insurance operations, including commercial banks, investment banks, leasing companies and retailers, and insurance-linked securities, securitizations and other structured finance transactions.

The 12 Tier 1 Metropolitan offices for Locke Lord in the U.S. News/Best Lawyers survey included Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Hartford, Houston, Los Angeles, New Jersey (Morristown), New York City, Rhode Island (Providence), Sacramento and Stamford (Connecticut).

The analysis by U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers is based on evaluations from clients as well as peer reviews from lawyers recognized as leaders in their practice areas. Firms are required to have at least one lawyer in a Best Lawyers practice area listing to be eligible for inclusion in the Best Law Firms report. Locke Lord has 141 lawyers listed in The Best Lawyers in America® 2016.

Complete results for Locke Lord in the 2016 U.S. News/Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” survey are available here.

National Tier 1

• Appellate Practice
• Banking and Finance Law
• Commercial Litigation
• Corporate Law
• Employment Law - Management
• Energy Law
• Environmental Law
• Insurance Law
• Litigation - Intellectual Property
• Litigation - Patent
• Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy)
• Mergers & Acquisitions Law
• Oil & Gas Law
• Patent Law
• Real Estate Law
• Tax Law

Metropolitan Tier 1

AUSTIN

• Appellate Practice
• Commercial Litigation
• Communications Law
• Real Estate Law

BOSTON

• Banking and Finance Law
• Commercial Litigation
• Corporate Compliance Law
• Corporate Governance Law
• Corporate Law
• Education Law
• Public Finance Law
• Tax Law

CHICAGO

• Information Technology Law
• Insurance Law
• Product Liability Litigation - Defendants

DALLAS

• Commercial Litigation
• Corporate Law
• Criminal Defense: White-Collar
• Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
• Employment Law - Management
• Environmental Law
• Health Care Law
• Litigation - Banking & Finance
• Litigation - Bankruptcy
• Litigation - Construction
• Litigation - ERISA
• Litigation - Intellectual Property
• Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy)
• Litigation - Trusts & Estates
• Real Estate Law
• Tax Law
• Trusts & Estates Law

HARTFORD

• Corporate Law
• Mergers & Acquisitions Law
• Securities / Capital Markets Law

HOUSTON

• Banking and Finance Law
• Corporate Law
• Derivatives and Futures Law
• Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
• Employment Law - Management
• Energy Law
• Environmental Law
• Litigation - Labor & Employment
• Oil & Gas Law
• Real Estate Law
• Tax Law
• Trusts & Estates Law

LOS ANGELES

• Corporate Law
• Mergers & Acquisitions Law
• Securities Regulation

NEW JERSEY

• Commercial Litigation

NEW YORK CITY

• Litigation - Intellectual Property
• Litigation - Patent
• Patent Law

RHODE ISLAND

• Banking and Finance Law
• Commercial Finance Law
• Commercial Litigation
• Corporate Law
• Environmental Law
• Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law
• Mergers & Acquisitions Law

SACRAMENTO

• Corporate Governance Law
• Corporate Law
• Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law
• Securities / Capital Markets Law

STAMFORD

• Litigation - Intellectual Property
• Trademark Law

About Locke Lord LLP
Locke Lord is a full-service, international law Firm of 23 offices designed to meet clients’ needs around the world. With a combined history of more than 125 years and a greatly enhanced domestic and global footprint, Locke Lord is a worldwide leader in the middle market sector. Locke Lord advises clients across a broad spectrum of industries including energy, insurance and reinsurance, private equity, telecommunications, technology, real estate, financial services and health care and life sciences, while providing a wealth of experience through its complex litigation, regulatory, intellectual property and fund formation teams.