Levitan, Sharon & Co. is a leading law firm specializing in insurance and reinsurance law in Israel. The firm's reputation is founded on its preeminence in Insurance and Reinsurance law, including insurance litigation, with specific expertise in complex International Law issues, as well as in litigation which takes place simultaneously in several venues. The firm has been involved in major insurance cases tried in Israel and its leading partners have several precedents on their name (the recent one relates to a double insurance issue).
Clients and Services
The firm acts mainly for foreign insurers and reinsurers who operate in Israel, including various Lloyd's syndicates, Allianz, Axa, Swiss Re, Munich Re, A.I.G., G.E. Frankona, Chubb, Assicurazioni Generali, and others for whom the firm provides all aspects of administrative, insurance regulatory and legal work. In addition the firm is connected to most leading insurance and reinsurance law firms around the world, and acts on reciprocal basis with them.
The range of services provided by the firm includes complex litigation work, legal opinions regarding Israeli laws, interpretation of policies based on the said laws, claims handling services which include both technical and legal aspects, creating new insurance products and adapting products to the Israeli legal scene.
The firm is also involved in establishing off-shores captive insurance companies for large industrial and financial institutions in Israel.
The firm’s uniqueness is its concentration in limited areas of the law, which are all connected to insurance or reinsurance.
In all these areas the firm publishes newsletters, and arranges seminars on a regular basis which are directed at the professionals working in the specific type of insurance business.
Specific Areas of Expertise
Financial Lines: The firm is known worldwide as a leading law firm in insurance of financial lines, such as Credit Insurance, Directors and Officers, Bankers Blanket Bonds and Jewellers Block policies. In all the above areas the firm is involved in most of the claims brought against the insureds either as defense attorney, or coverage attorneys. Some of these claims were filed outside of Israel.
Liability Insurance: The firm is involved in most types of liability insurance including public liability, employee`s liability, third party liability, and various professional liabilitiy.
Corporate Law for Insurance Companies: A special department handles corporate issues including services required by the insurance industry, including in-depth knowledge of Insurance Control Law, antitrust law, laws relating to investments, and tax implications relating to insurance.
In the said field the firm is involved in drafting agreements and issuing legal opinions as well as litigation.
The firm has excellent reputation with the Commissioner of Insurance, and involved in the legal work needed for receipt of operation licenses both for insurers and insurance brokers.
The firm has expertise in M&A of insurance entities including mergers of brokers and setting up/ restructuring insurance entities. A member of the firm was recently nominated as Administrative Manager of an insurance company that collapsed (Continental Insurance Co.)
Captive insurance companies: The firm was involved in establishing various captives for different entities, such as banks, industrial companies and telecommunications companies. The firm is capable of providing claims handling services to such captive insurance companies, tax advises end insurance, regulation advises.
Professional Indemnity: The Israel Bar Association and the insurance industry elected the firm to act as claims handler for the Bar Association's Malpractice Scheme. The firm has been running the scheme, acting on behalf of insurers, for the past 15 years.
Property Damage and Business Interruption: The firm deals with complex and high value property damage and business interruption claims, either as litigators on behalf of insurers which are named as defendants in Court or as the monitoring counsel on behalf of Reinsurers. The firm was involved in the four largest property damage and business interruption claims in London.
New Products: The firm is engaged by international insurers to create new insurance products, mainly in the financial lines sector, and to adapt existing insurance products to the Israeli law.
Medical Insurance: The firm acts on behalf of Insurers in the handling of medical insurance claims involving questions of permanent and temporary disability, interpretation of policy in light of specific regulations regarding medical insurance.
The firm is also involved in various cases of litigation both in Israel and abroad regarding medical claims, including various aspects of jurisdiction relating to these claims and advice regarding the implications of the claims on policy wording.
Claims handling: Side by side to the law office, the firm owns a company which handles claims for various entities - see CHC website . About 50% of its clients are insurance companies which out-source certain type of claims (such as malpractice) to the company. Other clients are large corporations and municipalities which have large deductibles and are out-sourcing the handling of their claims within the deductibles to the company.
Aviation: The firm has a large department that deals with aviation claims both hull and third party bodily injury. In addition the firm has recently acquired new expertise in drafting aircraft leasing agreements.
Subrogation claims: A special department of the firm concentrates in subrogation claims mainly on contingency fee basis - The firm in commissioned to act by various credit insurance companies as well as regular insurers who were involved in Israel in substantial claims and are seeking now to recover from the wrong doers.
Product liability and contamination: One of the unique expertise of the firm relates to a special know-how in product liability cases as well as contamination. Both as litigators on behalf of manufacturers and coverage attorneys on behalf of insurers.