Pillsbury Expands Its Top-Ranked Insurance Recovery Practice With New Partner Joseph D. Jean

Over the past 15 years, Jean has represented property owners in connection with some of the nation’s largest and most important catastrophic property losses, as well as natural disasters. Jean also advises clients on insurance coverage for matters involving general and product liability, directors’ and officers’ liability, employment liability, toxic tort liability and governmental investigations. He has represented clients throughout the United States and internationally in insurance and reinsurance arbitrations and mediations.

“We are thrilled to have Joe join our Insurance Recovery & Advisory team,” said Pillsbury's Chair James Rishwain, Jr. “His impressive work across so many industries will benefit our existing Insurance Recovery practice. Joe's addition will further enhance our market-leading top-tier practice for the benefit of our clients and is one of many steps we will take to grow this practice worldwide.”

Peter Gillon, co-head of the firm’s Insurance Recovery and Advisory practice and also co-chair of the Superstorm Sandy Insurance Working Group (comprised of leading insurance claims advisors dealing with Sandy claims), added, “Joe is a tremendous addition to and perfectly complements our team. We will greatly benefit from his experience across the U.S., especially regarding our work representing policyholder clients in disputes arising from Superstorm Sandy and other natural disasters.”

Jean said, “I’m very excited to be joining Pillsbury; its reputation in this space is well known and this is a great fit for my practice and my clients. I am looking forward to building on the practice’s many recent successes. I am also impressed by Pillsbury’s growth in this practice, which is truly a differentiator for this firm.”

Jean graduated cum laude from Vermont Law School, where he received the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Excellence in Bankruptcy Award and was the Articles Editor for the Vermont Law Review, and he earned his undergraduate degree from Trinity College, where he was the J.H. Kelso Davis Memorial Scholar. Prior to entering private practice, he clerked for the Hon. Mary Miles Teachout and the Hon. Edward J. Cashman in Vermont. He is licensed to practice in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and is admitted to the following courts: the U.S. District Courts of Connecticut; Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; U.S. Court of Appeals, Second and Ninth Circuits; and the U.S. Supreme Court. Jean is an active member of the American Bar Association, New York Bar Association, AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS) and is affiliated with the NYSBA Committee on Association Insurance Programs. He frequently speaks and writes about topics in the insurance industry.

About Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Pillsbury is a full-service law firm with an industry focus on energy & natural resources, financial services including financial institutions, real estate & construction, and technology. Based in the world's major financial, technology and energy centers, Pillsbury counsels clients on global business, regulatory and litigation matters. We work in multidisciplinary teams that allow us to understand our clients’ objectives, anticipate trends and bring a 360-degree perspective to complex business and legal issues—helping clients to take greater advantage of new opportunities, meet and exceed their objectives and better mitigate risk. This collaborative work style helps produce the results our clients seek.

Pillsbury’s Insurance Recovery and Advisory practice was recognized by Law360 as an “Insurance Group of the Year” and we have also been noted by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 U.S., Best Lawyers and PLC Which Lawyer. Pillsbury’s Insurance Recovery & Advisory practice is one of the first insurance policyholder practices in the United States, dating back to the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906, when the firm helped business owners recover from their insurers to rebuild the city. We have recovered more than six billion dollars of insurance policy proceeds for our policyholder clients, and regularly protect those clients by helping them obtain broad and appropriate insurance coverage to address the risks inherent in business today. Pillsbury’s Insurance Recovery & Advisory group is an integrated national network of more than 30 lawyers who use their deep understanding of the insurance business to devise optimal strategies and solutions for our clients. We understand that resolving insurance disputes often requires a combination of creativity and a sound commercial approach to the parties’ positions. Our clients – and insurers – often remark, that we “get it”. On the other hand, our attorneys are not reluctant to use their experience and skill as litigators to enforce our clients’ rights when litigation is necessary. The group draws on the experience of attorneys within Pillsbury in fields such as bankruptcy, aviation, energy and environmental law, to supplement its teams. When needed, we also have the ability to leverage the firm’s full litigation capabilities.