A. KENNETH LEVINE

Mr. Levine is one of the nation’s premier insurance and warranty regulatory lawyers. He has almost twenty years of regulatory and administrative experience.

Mr. Levine has advised purchasers in some of Florida’s largest mergers and acquisitions, and represented several of the country’s largest trade associations in administrative proceedings, bid protests, rule challenges, and negotiated solutions, before numerous state agencies.

Previously, Mr. Levine served in various legal capacities at the Florida Department of Insurance (now the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation), including service as senior counsel in the Chief of Staff’s Office and as the agency’s Hearing Officer.

He also led the Department’s prosecutions of unauthorized insurers in US Federal Courts and successfully negotiated, through the U.S. Department of Commerce, insurance code reservations to NAFTA and GATS.

Mr. Levine has been directly involved in the identification and resolution of examination issues, both as a regulator and as an advisor to insurers. His expertise come from his experience as a regulator where he drafted rules to regulate the conduct of insurers and agents, presided over public hearings on market conduct issues, and provided legal counsel to examiners.

Mr. Levine advises both property/casualty and life/health insurers regarding provisions of examination reports and, where appropriate, challenges improper findings and conclusions. At the discretion of regulatory officials, Mr. Levine has re-drafted reports to more accurately and precisely describe examiner findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

London-based Chambers and Partners, the only independent firm to rank the world’s top lawyers, has listed Mr. Levine as among the top few insurance lawyers in the country for 2007 and 2008.

Additionally, Mr. Levine is authoring the Market Conduct chapter of the forthcoming third edition of APPLEMAN ON INSURANCE, the comprehensive 70-volume treatise routinely referred to as the “bible” of insurance law and practice.

 

Levine Law Group Presentations & Publications

• United Insurance Company of America v. Office of Insurance Regulation: The Beginning of the End for Arbitration Clauses in Florida?, LexisNexis® Insurance Law Center, forthcoming Feb. 2009.

• Podcast, Federal and State Insurance Regulation and Legislation Proposed in 2008, LexisNexis® Insurance Law Center, Jan. 30, 2009, available at http://law.lexisnexis.com/practiceareas/insurance.

• Eight for '08: Insurance Measures in Review, LexisNexis® Insurance Law Center, Jan. 05, 2009, reprinted in 19 Mealey'sTM Litigation Report, Jan. 9, 2009 (39 page in-depth analysis of significant state and federal legislation passed during 2008, divided among eight subject matter areas).

• A Comparison of the 2008 Amendments to Florida and Connecticut's Suitability Laws, LexisNexis® Insurance Law Center, Aug. 4, 2008.

• Florida Reforms Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law, A.B.A. Insurance Regulation Committee Newsletter, Fall-Winter 2007, at 5-6.

• Regulatory and Legislative Issues in Insurance Law, Aspatore Books (2007) (140 page book on understanding insurance regulation and coverage).

• The Future of Compliance: What to Anticipate and How to Cope, Address at the Annual Conference of the Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals (Oct. 10-11, 2006).

• Alternative Dispute Resolution: Evolution Into Child's Play, LexisNexis® Insurance Compliance, Aug. 28, 2006, reprinted in Mealey'sTM Insurance Regulatory Compliance Report, Nov. 2006.

• The Florida Reinsurance Crisis, LexisNexis® Insurance Compliance, Sept. 15, 2006.

• Uniformity or Redundancy, LexisNexis® Insurance Compliance, Apr. 6, 2006 (discussion of RICO and antitrust actions against the Marsh and McLennan companies).

• Are Genes Appropriate, LexisNexis® Insurance Compliance, Mar. 23, 2006 (discussion of genetic testing as a tool for underwriting).

• Co-Author, Water Law in Transition: Debates That Could Shape Florida's Future, 70 Florida Bar Journal 77 (No. 10 1996).

• Customer Representatives, Insurance Insight (94-2 ed. 1994).

• Limiting Repetitive Litigation in Administrative Proceedings, 66 Florida Bar Journal 45 (No. 2 1992).

• Damages in "Fraud-On-The-Market" Cases: A Price on Information, 58 Defense Counsel Journal 47 (1991).

• Receivership Law in Florida (741 pages, 1st ed. forthcoming 2009).
Professional

• Ranked by Chambers and Partners as one of the few top insurance lawyers in Florida and among the top in the United States (2006 - 08).

• AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell – a rating achieved by only five percent of attorneys – indicating that the recipient of such a rating "has reached the height of professional excellence" and is "recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity."

• Listed, A.M. Best Company's Directory of Recommended Insurance Attorneys (2006 - 09).

• Recipient, 1994 Florida Bar Journal and News Award for Excellence in Legal Writing.

• Sole Recipient, 1994 Commissioner's Outstanding Service Award, by the Florida Commissioner of Insurance.

• Co-Recipient, 1993 Commissioner's Agency Team Performance Award, by the Florida Commissioner of Insurance.

• Winner, 7 Statewide Davis Productivity Awards, by Florida TaxWatch, The Florida Council of 100 (a private, non-profit, non-partisan research institute formed to oversee government expenditure of tax revenues; identifies limited number of persons employed by Florida whose work significantly and measurably increases productivity and promotes innovation).

Credentials

• The Florida Bar (1990-present); Appointee, Quality of Life and Career Committee (2006-09).

• The Bar of the District of Columbia (1991-present).

• American Bar Association (1991-present); Member, Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (Insurance Regulation, Medicine and Law, Staff Counsel and eCommerce Committees).

• Certified Insurance Mediator, designated by the Florida Department of Financial Services.

• Advisory Board, Matthew Bender and Company (a division of LexisNexis).

• Advisory Council, State of California, Bureau of Electronic & Appliance Repair.

• Service Contract Task Force, State of California, Bureau of Electronic & Appliance Repair.

• International Association of Insurance Receivers (association of individuals involved in enhancing the standards of insurance receiverships); Member, Bylaws Committee.

• Federation of Regulatory Counsel (nation-wide association of attorneys specializing in the arena of insurance regulatory law by recommendation and application based on skill and competency).

• Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals; Appointee, Government and Industry Relations Committee (2006-07).

• INSOL International (International Association of Restructuring, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Professionals).

• Half-Axe International (former senior officials of departments of insurance inducted by nomination of an Insurance Commissioner).

Education

Tulane University School of Law, New Orleans, LA, Juris Doctor

A.B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, Bachelor of Science in Management

* Licensed to practice law only in Florida and Washington, D.C.