Mitrovic Consulting

In the early 1980s, corporate risk management had a significant blind spot. Traditional insurance addressed risks such as fires, automobile accidents, and professional malpractice. But what about a multimillion dollar lawsuit already pending against a company, with an uncertain financial outcome hanging over its head? That was the challenge I set out to address at AIG in the early to mid-1980s, helping pioneer transactional insurance solutions, including tax liability, repres

I pioneered the representation and warranty (“R&W”) insurance business in the early 1980’s by responding to private equity asset sellers and their large law firm counsel, seeking an insurance solution to eliminate the seller escrow holdbacks required by acquirers to assure cash was available to compensate for breaches of seller R&W in the sale transaction, thus preventing a full cash distribution of sale proceeds. The alternative was a deep buyer discount to the cash purchase

What drives the need for capital? Sometimes it is a fortuitous event—a weather-related catastrophe, a business crisis or a change in law. Other times, it is something entirely different: a new product and the opportunity it creates. Axcelera was the latter. My search for capital for a start up was predicated on our success at AIG in the specialty lines space and transactional liability space. We identified a business broker/intermediary in mid-1999 who worked with us to put

Finite insurance is an insurance contract lasting several years in which the insured pays a premium into a fund managed by the insurer. If losses are low at the end of the term, the insured gets a refund. If losses exceed the limit, the insured pays an additional premium or the deal ends. In essence, it is a combination of self insurance and capped, limited risk transfer. AIG wrote a finite risk policy for Phil Ritson, a well known South African golf professional, instructor,

With today's discussions about developing new and advanced nuclear energy facilities to support the extraordinary power demands of artificial intelligence and the military, perhaps we should look back at the adverse loss development that accompanied the nuclear buildout of the late 1970s and 1980s. Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979 and Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 fundamentally changed the risk environment surrounding nuclear power. The consequences extended well beyo

In the late 70’s and early 80’s, the public company Directors and Officers (“D&O”) policy was still very much a developing product. It was never intended to be an airtight contract replete with exclusions, nor was it a model of clarity or a poster child for litigation certainty. It had a D&O Side A coverage part that covered alleged wrongful acts of directors and officers not indemnifiable under the corporate by-laws of the company that employed them. Where the alleged wrong

The difference between winning and losing a case depends largely on the strength of your expert witness. If you are the plaintiff in a lawsuit, you need to retain an expert who has the expertise, knowledge and experience to convince a jury that your arguments on liability and damages are well-founded and persuasive. Your expert must have knowledge of the facts, law, and industry custom and practice to prepare an expert report, withstand deposition and cross examination, and t

One of the lessons I learned working with private equity and transactional insurance is that a known liability does not necessarily have to kill a transaction or even permanently depress a company’s valuation. A company or asset may have a significant underinsured or uninsured liability—litigation, environmental exposure, a toxic tort claim, or another contingent risk—that neither the buyer nor the seller wants to retain. The buyer may respond by substantially discounting the

How many times have you found yourself in a compromising coverage dispute because of advice from counsel that causes huge reputational damage, gives competitors something to market against you, and ultimately impacts market penetration in a book of business, the way policies are priced, and the scope of coverage? For example, Directors & Officers (“D&O”) public company insurance has gone through an evolution since 1990 that has led to unfavorable results for the public compan

In the late ’80s and early ’90s, I had the opportunity to develop yet another transactional insurance product in addition to representations and warranties insurance. That product was contingent liability insurance—a solution for underinsured or uninsured liabilities that were preventing the sale or purchase of companies or assets and, in some instances, inhibiting market capitalization growth and share appreciation. Typically, in these transactions, I would incorporate non-d

Insurance Company Errors & Omissions ("E&O") is about far more than coverage—it is about understanding the regulatory environment in which insurance companies operate. Insurance companies do not simply issue policies. They operate under the oversight of 50 separate state insurance departments, each with its own requirements for policy review, rating approval, licensing, market conduct, and claims handling. Complaints involving unapproved endorsements, rating irregularities, c

My company, Mitrovic Consulting, has proven expertise in Reps & Warranties (“R&W”) insurance claims and private equity buy-side litigation. Selecting the right expert witness can mean the difference between a dismissed claim and a multi-million dollar recovery. When a private equity firm faces a material breach of financial representations and warranties post-closing, our specialized financial acumen and courtroom credibility are essential to proving both the loss and insurer