- 2018-10-03
Alexander B. Mahler
Partner
Representing international and domestic insurers in state and federal courts throughout the United States, Alex's practice focuses on complex coverage and bad faith disputes arising under a wide range of primary and excess policies and exposures.
As a coverage attorney, he has successfully resolved insurance coverage disputes arising under almost every coverage line and area, including:
- Bad Faith
- Commercial General Liability, including exposures arising in the contexts of transportation, construction defect, catastrophic bodily injury and property damage, defamation/disparagement, false advertising and many others
- Cyber Liability
- Directors and Officers Liability
- Environmental and Toxic Tort
- Errors and Omissions
- Fidelity and Commercial Crime
- Fiduciary
- Financial Institution and Banker's Liability, including Mortgage Company Professional Liability
- First Party Property
- Primary, Excess, Umbrella, including allocation among insurers
- Professional Liability
Alex also has substantial experience, through formal and informal mechanisms, in negotiating favorable resolutions of matters presenting complex legal issues and multi-million-dollar exposures.
Memberships
- American Bar Association
- American Institute of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters
- Claims Litigation Management Alliance
- Professional Liability Underwriting Society
- West Suburban Chapter of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Society
- Defended insurers in state court coverage action concerning $50 million dispute over defense and indemnity under CGL policies, which included claims of bad faith.
- Defended insurer against novel arguments that Directors & Officers policy covered multimillion-dollar exposure arising out of a complete business separation of legacy businesses.
- Represented domestic insurer as coverage counsel for high-profile data breach into the system of one of the world's biggest providers of permission-based email marketing.
- Represented insurer in coverage action involving coverage under financial institution bond for claim by insured bank's receiver that employee participated in inducing bank to make loans to prominent fraudster.
- Represented insurer in million-dollar bad-faith coverage litigation involving claims that insured protective clothing manufacturer misrepresented facts in its application.
- Successfully litigated matter related to the failure of an independent physicians' association and lawsuit presenting a $10 million E&O and D&O claim on behalf of syndicate of London market insurers, and settled dispute for a fraction of the exposure.
- Obtained favorable settlement after strategically litigating certain aspects of coverage action involving alleged claim-handling errors and legal malpractice on behalf of a syndicate of international and domestic insurers faced with $100 million in bad-faith exposure.
ADDITIONAL SPEAKING & WRITING
- Author, "Interpleader," Causes of Action, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020 & 2023 editions)
- Presenter, "Contractual and Additional Insured Risk Transfer," Chicago, Illinois (October 2022)
- Presenter, "Claims Training-Coverage," Chicago, Illinois (March 2022)
- Presenter, "Claims Training-Coverage," Cincinnati, Ohio (October 2019)
- Presenter, "Bad Faith Damages in Third-Party Claims," 2018 PLRB Conference (April 2018)
- Presenter, "Duty to Defend & Bad Faith; Core Principles, Practical Risks, and Outcomes," Warrenville, Illinois (April 2018)
- Presenter, "Insurance-Bad Faith - The Imperfect Claim: Addressing Problems Effectively and Diplomatically," London, England (September
- 2017)
- Presenter, " Duty to Defend and Duty to Settle," London, England (January 2017)
- Presenter, "Defending the Imperfect Claim," Chicago Legal Education Conference (July 2016)
- Presenter, "Risk Transfer," Milwaukee, Wisconsin (May 2015)
- Presenter, "Duty to Defend in Illinois," Hoffman Estates, Illinois (May 2014)
- Panelist, "Insurance Risk Management During These Rapidly Changing Times," IMB Insurance Webinar (January 2013)
- Presenter, "Public Directors & Officers Liability Coverage," Association of Lloyd's Brokers (August 2012)
- Author, "Public Directors and Officers Liability Coverage," Association of Lloyd's Brokers (August 2012)
- Co-author, "The Future of Climate Change Litigation in the Wake of American Electric v. Connecticut," The National Forum for Environmental
- and Toxic Tort Issues, Annual Conference (October 2011)
- Presenter, "The Doctrine of 'Continuing Bad Faith': Past, Present & Future," Surety Claims Institute's Annual Meeting (June 2009)
- Co-author, "The Decline of the So-Called Doctrine of Continuing Bad Faith," 48 TORT TRIAL & INS. PRAC. L.J. 29 (Winter 2008)