Current Employment Position(s)

Member

Languages

• German

Lawyer Overview

Frederick W. Reif, born in Brooklyn, New York, was admitted to the New York Bar in 1987. He received a B.A. degree from The American University in 1979; an M.A. degree in modern European history from Columbia University in 1981; and a J.D. degree from Villanova University in 1986. His practice has focused on the representation of European insurers, reinsurers, manufacturers and other entities in litigation and arbitration in the United States. Mr. Reif speaks fluent German and is a regular contributor to German legal and insurance periodicals. He is also AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Mr. Reif has handled a wide variety of high-profile, complex cases with international aspects over the years. In the late 1990s, he defended a number of German insurance companies in class-action litigation initiated by Holocaust survivors and their heirs. This litigation ended in an Executive Agreement signed by U.S. President William J. Clinton and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder creating a foundation to distribute billions of dollars to survivors and their families. In 2003, Mr. Reif successfully represented six North American insurers before the United States Supreme Court in a case involving the constitutionality of a California state insurance statute. He has also represented a major European insurer in a $2 billion property insurance dispute arising out of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. Recently, he represented a European reinsurer, in both London arbitration and U.S. litigation, in a dispute with its cedent arising out of losses caused by a major pipeline explosion in the Pacific Northwest.

In addition to the State of New York, Mr. Reif is currently admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of New York; the District of Colorado; the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits; and the United States Supreme Court.

Representative Cases

• Taunus Corp. v. Allianz Ins. Co. and AXA Corporate Solutions Ins. Co. , (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. Cty. 2006)
• In re Ski Train Fire in Kaprun, Austria on November 11, 2000, 342 F.Supp.2d 207 (S.D.N.Y. 2004)
• In re September 11th Liab. Ins. Coverage Cases, 333 F.Supp.2d 111 (S.D.N.Y. 2004)
• American Insurance Ass's v. Garamendi, 539 U.S. 396 (2003)
• Gerling Global Reinsurance Corp. of Am. v. Gallagher, 267 F.3d 1228 (11th Cir. 2001)
• Rivkin v. Heraeus Kulzer GmbH, 734 N.Y.S.2d 31 (1st Dep't 2001)

Bar Admissions

• New York, 1987
• U.S. District Court District of Colorado
• 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. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

Honors and Awards

• AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Education

• Villanova University School of Law, Villanova, Pennsylvania, 1986
  J.D.
• Columbia University, New York, New York, 1981
  M.A.
  Major: European History
• American University, Washington, District of Columbia, 1979
  B.A.

Address

570 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Phones

(212) 634-5042

Faxes

(212) 986-3509

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.brhr.com