Michele L. Jacobson

Michele L. Jacobson is the chair of Stroock’s General Litigation Practice Group and the head of the New York General Litigation Practice Group. Michele is also the co-chair of Stroock’s Insurance and Reinsurance Practice Group. She concentrates on complex insurance and reinsurance matters, using her deep knowledge of the industry to counsel a diverse array of companies in litigating and preventing disputes. She has represented clients in misrepresentation, coverage, standard-of-conduct, broker negligence and insurance regulatory disputes in federal and state courts and before arbitration panels nationwide.

Ceding companies and reinsurers call upon her contract wording experience to advise on tightening contracts and processes to minimize litigation risks. Michele’s strategic approach to litigation and dispute resolution has helped clients save and recover hundreds of millions of dollars.

Michele has received recognition for her work from Chambers USA, The Legal 500 United States, Who’s Who Legal: Insurance & Reinsurance and Super Lawyers. 

“Michele is a top-notch litigator who focuses on the key issues to help her clients resolve issues in an effective and efficient manner,” Chambers USA reports.

Michele sits on Stroock’s Executive Committee and is a Co-Chair of the Stroock Women’s Affinity Group. She remains active in the community, serving on, among other things, the GlamourGals Foundation Executive Board and the Babson College Parent Executive Committee.

• Insurance / Reinsurance
• Insurance / Reinsurance: Dispute Resolution and Counseling
• Litigation

Representative cases include the following:

• A ceding company in connection with a charge by reinsurers that the placement information with respect to a treaty had been false and misleading;
• A ceding company in disputes with several reinsurers over YRT reinsurance premiums;
• A life insurance company in a dispute with underwriters at Lloyd’s of London over late notice, coverage and misrepresentations;
• A reinsurer in an arbitration with its cedent in connection with an excess workers’ compensation treaty;
• A ceding company in an arbitration with its reinsurer relating to coverage for Hurricane Katrina claims;
• A ceding company in an arbitration with its reinsurer relating to Enron claims;
• Ceding companies in arbitrations with reinsurers relating to asbestos and environmental claims;
• Ceding companies in arbitrations with reinsurers over World Trade Center property and aviation claims;
• A financial guaranty cedent in connection with disputes with its reinsurers arising out of the financial crisis;
• Ceding companies in discussions with reinsurers over California wildfires and Japanese earthquake losses;
• An insurer in disputes with its program manager concerning the remittance of premium and offset amounts due a captive reinsurer;
• An insurer in a dispute with a policyholder over fraudulent issuance of insurance policies.

• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Insurance Dispute Resolution (New York)
• Chambers New York: Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Insurer, 2021           
• New York Law Journal, Trailblazer 2020
• Crain's New York Business, 2020 Notable Women in Law
• Business Insurance, "Women to Watch"
• The Legal 500 United States
• Who’s Who Legal: Insurance & Reinsurance
• Super Lawyers
• The New York Times Magazine, top women lawyers in New York State

• Executive Board Member, GlamourGals Foundation, Inc.
• Member, Babson College Parent Executive Committee
• Member, Law360 Insurance Editorial Advisory Board
• Member, Strategic Planning Committee, Congregation B’nai Israel, Rumson, New Jersey
• Member, New York State Bar Association
• Member, New Jersey State Bar Association
• Member, Federal Bar Council
• Member, Association of Insurance & Reinsurance Run-Off Companies (AIRROC)
• Member, AIDA-U.S. Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS)
  • Member, Law Committee
• Member, Association of Professional Insurance Women (APIW)

Michele is a frequent lecturer on reinsurance topics. Her most recent engagements include:

• Speaker, “Helping Women Support Each Other,” New York City Bar Association’s Beyond Mentoring Program, June 24, 2019
• Speaker, “Arbitrability: The Implications of Henry Schien v. Archer & White Sales, Inc.,” ARIAS•U.S. 2019 Spring Conference, May 10, 2019
• Speaker, Centerforce’s Women in the Law Summit Series, November 14, 2018
• Speaker, “Mastering the Use of Alternative Dispute Resolution to Avoid Litigation in the Transactional Insurance Arena,” M&A, RWI and Transactional Risk Insurance: Claims, Coverages and Liabilities Conference, October 11, 2018
• Moderator, “2019 Regulatory Outlook: Ensuring Compliance Across SEC, DOL and NAIC Regulations,” ALM’s General Counsel Conference, September 26, 2018
• Panelist, “New York Regulatory Environment Panel,” Society of Insurance Financial Management’s (SIFM) Quarterly Conference, March 21, 2018, June 10, 2018
• Presenter, AIRROC New York City Regional Day, “Lessons From the Front: Managing the Program Manager,” New York, NY, January 17, 2018
• Presenter, “Life and Annuity Reinsurance,” Society of Actuaries, Life and Annuity Reinsurance Seminar, New York, NY, August 15, 2017
• Speaker, “Reinsurance Arbitration,” ReFocus Conference, American Council of Life Insurers and Society of Actuaries, Las Vegas, NV, March 8, 2017
• Speaker, “Sharing of Potentially Privileged Information Between Cedents and Reinsurers,” AIRROC Boston Regional Education Day, Boston, MA, May 3, 2016
• Speaker, “Run-Off and Commutation Hurdles Associated with Asbestos, Environmental Issues, Workers’ Comp, and Other Long-Tail Claims,” American Conference Institute’s 10th International Advanced Forum on Run-Off and Commutations, New York, NY, April 22, 2015
• Speaker, “Influence and Personal Advocacy,” Babson College, Wellesley, MA, October 17, 2014

• Co-author, "Preparing For Reinsurance Fallout From COVID-19 Pandemic," Mealey’s Litigation Report, Mealey’s Catastrophic Loss, May 6, 2020
• Co-author, "Preparing for Reinsurance Fallout From COVID-19 Pandemic," Stroock Special Bulletin, April 9, 2020
• Co-author, "Steps for Businesses to Consider as Coronavirus Spreads," Stroock Special Bulletin, March 3, 2020
• Co-author, "NYS Department of Financial Services Announces Mandatory Submission of LIBOR Risk Management Plan," Stroock Special Bulletin, January 3, 2020
• Co-author, “NAIC Updates – June 2018,” Stroock Special Bulletin, June 2018
• Co-author, “NAIC Updates – January 2018,” Stroock Special Bulletin, January 2018
• Co-author, “NAIC Updates – October 2017,” Stroock Special Bulletin, October 2017
• Co-author, “Is My Arbitration Final or Is It Groundhog Day?” Dispute Resolution Journal, 2016, Vol. 71 No. 4
• Co-author, “Ambac Assurance Corp. v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc.: New York Court of Appeals Rejects Expansion of the Common Interest Exception to Waiver of Attorney-Client Privilege,” Stroock Special Bulletin, June 14, 2016
• Co-author, “Reinsurance Implications of the Japanese Earthquake,” Stroock Special Bulletin, April 21, 2016
• Co-author, “Taking a Page from Litigation: Curbing Discovery Costs in Arbitration,” ARIAS-U.S. Quarterly, Fourth Quarter 2014
• Co-author, “New York Commercial Division Adopts Rule to Curb Discovery Costs,” Stroock Special Bulletin, October 1, 2014
• Co-author, “State Responses to Superstorm Sandy and Other Natural Disasters: Implications for Ceding Companies and Their Reinsurers,” Stroock Special Bulletin, April 10, 2013
• Co-author, “Solvent Run-offs Finally ‘Off and Running’ in the United States,” Pratt’s Journal of Bankruptcy Law, September 2011, Vol. 7, No. 6
• Co-author, “The Access to Records and Claims Cooperation Clauses: Their Impact on Discovery in Arbitration Proceedings,” ARIAS-U.S. Quarterly, Third Quarter 2006
• Co-author, “Obtaining Discovery from Reinsurance Intermediaries and Other Non-Parties – Updated Case Law and Commentary,” Mealey’s Litigation Report: Reinsurance, November 17, 2005

New York; New Jersey

U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey; U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York; U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York; U.S. District Court, Western District of New York; U.S. District Court, District of Colorado

U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

U.S. Supreme Court

J.D., New York University School of Law, 1987; Member and Editor, New York University Law Review; Recipient, Judge Abraham Lieberman Award

B.A., summa cum laude, Brandeis University, 1984; Recipient, Louis D. Brandeis Award; Valedictorian, Department of Politics