Robert D. Helfand
Partner

Connecticut

Email: rdh@jordenusa.com
Phone: 860.392.5044
Fax: 860.392.5058

Bert Helfand represents property and casualty insurers and other financial services companies in complex litigation, including class action, securities, consumer credit, ERISA and RICO matters. He is a member of Jorden Burt's Property & Casualty and Securities Industry Groups and its Class Action and National Trial Practice Teams.

Mr. Helfand joined Jorden Burt after serving as Assistant General Counsel at The Hartford. In that position, he managed class actions, federal and state lawsuits and arbitrations that affected a variety of insurance lines, including commercial property, homeowners, automobile, workers compensation, commercial and professional liability, reinsurance and surplus lines. The cases he managed involved disputes over claims practices, underwriting practices and coverage issues, and they included claims asserted under consumer fraud and privacy statutes, the federal securities laws, ERISA, RICO, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Before his work for The Hartford, Mr. Helfand spent 20 years in private practice in New York City, conducting complex commercial litigation for insurers, manufacturers and mid-sized businesses in state, federal and bankruptcy courts and in commercial arbitrations. Among many other cases, he successfully represented leading health care insurers in fraud and RICO actions against national and regional medical providers, he successfully litigated antitrust actions on behalf of a prominent cement manufacturer and other clients, he successfully represented a major clearing bank in an arbitration over the fraudulent sale of canceled securities, he defended banks, venture capital firms and other investors in numerous actions alleging violations of RICO and the federal securities laws, and he conducted criminal trials and appeals pro bono on behalf of both defendants and prosecutors.

Representative Matters

• Defended a securities class action in the Southern District of New York, based on alleged overvaluation of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities; the action was dismissed, with prejudice.
• Prosecuted a Bermuda arbitration over coverage dispute under an excess Errors & Omissions policy; our client received a $50 million award.
• Defended a putative national class action in the Western District of Oklahoma, based on the use of an automated bill review system to examine medical bills submitted under the medical payments coverage of automobile insurance policies; in response to a motion for judgment on the pleadings, the action was voluntarily dismissed.
• Representing a workers compensation insurer as intervening plaintiff in a RICO class action in the Northern District of Illinois, alleging fraudulent underreporting of workers compensation premium to the National Workers Compensation Reinsurance Pool; the parties agreed to a $450 million settlement that was approved over vigorous opposition.
• Defending a putative national class action, pending in the Western District of Missouri, based on alleged failure by issuer of association policy to pay mandatory statutory interest on accidental death benefits.