Peter B. Steffen

For more than 24 years, Peter B. Steffen has worked to solve clients’ problems by representing them in a wide array of disputes in both the life reinsurance and property/casualty reinsurance arenas. As a veteran practitioner, he understands the unique issues facing the reinsurance industry and has ample arbitration and court experience. His experience includes disputes dealing with contract interpretation, fraud, MGUs and TPAs, misrepresentations and non-disclosures, and insurance insolvencies.

Additionally, Peter has assisted clients by leading internal investigations, has supervised and coordinated litigation in international jurisdictions, and has advised clients with regard to accounting liability, regulatory matters, and antitrust risks. Peter is also a frequent speaker at industry meetings and events.

Peter also sponsors a scholarship at his undergraduate alma mater, Washington University, and is an amateur composer, poker player, and occasional trivia contest host.

Peter's Practice

Representative Matters

• Successfully represented reinsurer in an arbitration, defeating cedent’s attempt to require the reinsurer to place almost $2 billion in a trust account established for the cedent’s benefit.
• Successfully represented party in a breach of contract and fiduciary duty arbitration with $80 million in claimed damages brought by a major insurance carrier against its managing general underwriter for alleged underwriting guideline violations.
• Successfully represented a reinsurer in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars from a rogue managing agent and from a large international accounting firm who audited the account but failed to alert the client about the agent’s fraud.
• Successfully represented one of the leading insurance groups in the U.S. in a significant arbitration concerning the client’s claims for indemnification for underlying asbestos and silica liabilities that ultimately resulted in reinsurance recoveries in excess of $125 million.
• Successfully represented property and casualty reinsurers in various arbitrations and court proceedings regarding erroneous billing and late notice issues.
• Successfully represented various reinsurers in actions involving business written by their managing general underwriters or the managing general agents of their cedents.
• Successfully represented a life reinsurer in an arbitration against a cedent that frequently violated its own underwriting guidelines and wrote business contrary to the representations made during placement.
• Advised both rehabilitators of insolvent insurance companies and creditors of such companies in multiple states.