Maurice Pesso

Maurice Pesso

Partner New York, United States

T: +1 908 605 2903

F: +1 908 647 8390

E: Maurice.Pesso@kennedyslaw.com

Profile

Admissions

  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • US District Court, Eastern and Southern Districts of New York

Education

  • Boston University School of Law, JD, 2000
  • Binghamton University, BA, 1997

Maurice is a Partner in the New York office. He has represented domestic and international insurers in connection with insurance coverage and liability issues arising under major professional liability lines, including directors and officers (public and private company), banker and financial professional liability, errors and omissions and fiduciary liability. Maurice has worked with insurers in resolving hundreds of these matters through mediation, domestic and international arbitration, and in coverage litigation before State and Federal Courts across the country.

His work includes advising insurers on coverage and liability/damages issues in securities class actions, shareholders derivative actions, private equity disputes, regulatory investigations/proceedings, transactional litigation, and bankruptcy and insolvency matters. Insurance company clients have sought Maurice for advice and guidance on many of their most significant matters, including some of the most high-profile D&O/FI matters of the past two decades. Maurice also counsels insurance company clients with respect to claims and underwriting issues, and works with insurance company clients on developing new insurance products and drafting policy forms and specialized endorsements.

Maurice is a frequent speaker and author on issues of interest to professional liability insurers, specifically with respect to exposures faced by directors and officers and how those exposure can impact professional liability insurers. Maurice is a member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS).

Presentations and publications

Presentations

  • "When It Rains, It Pours: New and Emerging D&O Exposure from Murdock to Cyan," presented in-house (October 4, 2018)
  • "Resolving Insurance Coverage Disputes via ADR," presented at the CLM Management and Professional Liability Conference (June 20-21, 2018)
  • Panel discussion on D&O Trends and Cyan Decision, presented at Beazley (June 14, 2018)
  • "M&A Insurance Masterclass: Tackling Tough Transactions", webinar (May 17, 2017)
  • "Insuring the M&A Deal: An Introduction to Representations and Warranties Insurance," presented in-house (September 22, 2016)
  • "Closing Deals with Reps and Warranties Insurance," presented at the American Conference Institute's National Forum on Directors and Officers Management Liability (July 27, 2016)
  • "Recent Deal Trends and the Impact of Reps & Warranties Insurance on M&A Transactions," presented at the Reps & Warranties & Transactional Liability Insurance ExecuSummit (May 3-4, 2016)


Publications

  • Co-author, "Arizona Supreme Court to define consent to settlement standard," published for Kennedys (September 2019)
  • Co-author, "This Year's Summer Insurance Blockbuster: Office Depot v. AIG Specialty Insurance Company (Starring the Contractual Liability, Prior Acts and Regulatory Exclusions)," published for PLUS Journal (September 2019)
  • Author, "What Types of Insurance for Startups? Consider Your Risks and Liabilities," published in JD Supra Corporate Law Report (March 25, 2019)
  • Author, "Representations and Warranties Insurance in a Deal," published in The Legal Intelligencer, Insurance Law Supplement (August 25, 2015)

Work highlights

  • Regularly represents insurers' interests in connection with resolution of complex securities claims through litigation and alternative dispute resolution procedures, including the negotiation of complex settlements and insurance coverage workouts.
  • Successfully negotiated numerous policy settlements in connection with claims noticed under professional liability insurance policies.
  • Obtained summary judgment for an insurance company that denied coverage for a portion of a multi-million dollar regulatory settlement that was labeled as disgorgement.
  • Defended insurance companies in coverage actions brought by financial institutions seeking coverage for their settlements of the Enron and WorldCom securities class actions.
  • Integral part of the lead counsel team that represented the lead plaintiff in the first ever securities class action brought by shareholders of a Turkish company trading on the New York Stock Exchange, resulting in a settlement of over $19 million.
  • Frequently represents insurers in the mediation of large, complex claims and the negotiation of sophisticated settlements, including coverage workouts. 

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