Jones Walker's attorneys have recently represented the following clients in a variety of matters spanning several areas of practice:

• One of the world’s largest asset administration firms, focused on asset management and corporate trust services, with more than $20 trillion of assets under custody and more than $1 trillion of assets under management
• The third-largest financial services firm in the United States, and one of the nation’s top mortgage lenders
• A top U.S. bank with 3,200 branches, mostly in Western and Midwestern states, leading the industry with an average of five financial products per customer household
• One of the leading financial services companies in the United States, with more than 50 million customers and 300-plus branches in Louisiana and Texas
• A commercial bank with a strong presence along the Gulf Coast, targeting individuals and regional businesses
• The subsidiary of a large domestic bank that participates in energy mezzanine finance and is active in the second-lien debt market, with a total value of energy financings near $200 million
• A financial services firm specializing in providing asset management services, trust services, and annuities to retail and institutional investors
• One of the largest independent bank holding companies headquartered in Texas, with clients spanning from North Texas across the border to Mexico
• A bank specializing in corporate lending and other financial products in the aviation, shipping, land transport, and transport infrastructure sectors
• A commercial bank focused mainly on business loans—most of which relate to commercial real estate—and consumer loans and residential mortgages
• A privately held equity company focusing on value-oriented investments in middle market companies
• A New Orleans-based institutional research and sales firm that has been involved in more than $14 billion in capital transactions

Representative Clients in Life, Health, Disability Insurance, and ERISA Matters

With respect to life, health, disability insurance and ERISA, our Insurance, Banking & Financial Services attorneys have represented, among others:

• A life insurer in multi-district litigation proceedings regarding allegations of discrimination in the sale and administration of industrial life insurance. The multi-district litigation involves seven separate national class actions. Jones Walker is representing the client in all aspects of these proceedings, including handling the proceedings before the Multi-District Litigation Panel.
• A plan sponsor and its former executive officers in a class action brought on behalf of ESOP participants alleging that defendants breached their fiduciary duties under ERISA by diversifying ESOP assets in a secondary public offering and engaged in a prohibited transaction by accepting plan sponsor stock in response to a Dutch auction self-tender offer. After the District Court dismissed plaintiffs’ federal securities fraud claims for pleading deficiencies under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, the District Court entered a partial summary judgment in favor of defendants on the prohibited transaction claims. The rest of the claims were dismissed after trial.
• An insurer that provided life insurance to company employees under ERISA in a class action claim alleging the failure to pay interest on the delayed payment of life insurance benefits. Jones Walker was successful in having claims for penalties and interest under state law dismissed as preempted by ERISA. After the partial dismissal, the parties negotiated a confidential settlement and amicable dismissal of the plaintiff’s individual claim.
• An insurer in a class action involving alleged “market conduct” misrepresentations in connection with the sale of interest-sensitive life insurance products. Jones Walker postured this case for summary judgment, then assisted in negotiating a favorable settlement of this and other cases on a nationwide basis.
• A disability insurer against claims that it misrepresented and misinterpreted the offset provisions of its disability policy, and obtained a dismissal of the class allegations.
• An insurer in a class action involving alleged “market conduct” misrepresentations in the sale of interest-sensitive life insurance. Jones Walker negotiated a transfer to our client’s home state, where the case ultimately settled.
• The defendant in class action asserting claims for breach of contract and unjust enrichment, among others, based on the alleged improper administration of a health insurance plan. Represented an insurer in class action involving interpretation of cancer insurance policies and prevailed for the insurer on summary judgment.
• The defendant in this recently filed class action alleging the defendant failed to pay health care providers in a timely and reasonable manner and asserting claims for willful and negligent breach of contract.
• A sponsor of a large reinsurance pool in consolidated suits involving claims against its reinsurance broker and underwriter, and their professional liability insurers, alleging mismanagement, piercing the corporate veil, and other issues, and negotiated a confidential resolution.
• A life insurer in a claim by the original owner of the policy, which had been issued on the life of a youth. When the youth reached the age of twenty-one, pursuant to the policy terms, the ownership of the policy reverted to him, and he changed the beneficiary and sold the policy to a viatical company before he died. We successfully defended a claim by the original owner, successfully arguing that the ownership had changed and the facility of payment law allowed the insurer to pay the benefits to the named beneficiary.
• An accidental insurer in a successful defense on the ground that the insured had died due to his intoxication, and that the death was excluded under the policy.
• An ERISA plan insurer in a case holding, for the first time, that the claims under Louisiana Rev. Stat. 22:1220 were preempted by ERISA.
• A disability insurer in a successful declaratory judgment against a chiropractor, rescinding his disability policy, on the ground that he had made material misrepresentations in the application regarding his health with the intent to deceive the company.

Representative Clients in Homeowners and Automobile Insurance Matters

With respect to homeowners and automobile insurance, our Insurance, Banking & Financial Services attorneys have represented, among others:

• An insurance company, one of sixteen defendants, in a class action alleging race discrimination in the setting of automobile insurance rates. Jones Walker, acting as lead defense counsel for all insurers, successfully briefed and argued a dispositive motion seeking the dismissal of all claims for refunds of premiums. Once the motion was filed, Jones Walker negotiated a no-money, walk-away in which the plaintiffs simply dismissed the action.
• A defendant in a class action brought by insured homeowners alleging claims of mishandling against multiple insurance companies following a hail storm.

Representative Clients in Insolvency Matters

With respect to insolvency, our Insurance, Banking & Financial Services attorneys have represented, among others:

• Life and other insurance carriers’ directors and officers, outside counsel, and other professionals in litigation arising from the insurers’ insolvency.