On the corporate and business side, Pierce Atwood lawyers have advised insurers on a host of internal, structural, and operational matters, including their formation, corporate structuring, mergers and reorganizations, state insurance regulation, market conduct, and policy coverage issues. Representative operational matters include bulk reinsurance transactions, extraordinary dividends, mutual policyholder dividend plans, federal income tax issues, policyholder/shareholder governance matters, permitted business activities, TPA contracts, and contracts with vendors and service providers.

On regulatory matters, we work with our clients at every level, including representation at state insurance departments and lobbying for insurance-related legislation.

Representative Experience

Represented Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. in its $102.5 million acquisition of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine.

Anthem $102.5 Million Acquisition of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Maine

Pierce Atwood serves as outside immigration counsel for Unum, the largest provider of disability insurance products in the United States and the United Kingdom, employing more than 9,000 people, with total revenue for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016 in excess of $11.05 billion. A Fortune 500 company, Unum Group is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “UNM.”

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International Mobility in Key Technology Positions at Unum

Lead negotiator for major property and casualty insurance company on enterprise performance management software contract. Successfully introduced and negotiated solution to an inter-operability issue that threatened to sink the deal.

Negotiation of Enterprise Performance Management Software Contract

Lead negotiator on behalf of a New England-based insurance company in connection with replacing a home-grown IT system (including self-hosted servers and legacy software platforms) with an outsourced core insurance platform consisting of a policy administration system, claims processing and settlement solution, rating engine and underwriting and decisioning tools. When the vendor’s in-house counsel proved to be an obstacle to compromise and progress, we suggested and implemented strategies to minimize counsel’s role to enable the vendor’s senior business leaders to make key decisions.

Negotiation of Outsourced Technology Platform for Insurance Company

The Maine Legislature in 2011 passed a landmark bill (PL 90) aimed at reforming the failing individual health insurance market in Maine. The bill authorized establishment of a new non-governmental insurance company (the Maine Guaranteed Access Reinsurance Association, or “MGARA”) that would provide reinsurance to cover the sickest individuals historically responsible for the bulk of the health services used and corresponding costs, with the ultimate goal of reducing premiums in that market. The Board of Directors of MGARA retained Pierce Atwood to analyze the new groundbreaking law, form the new reinsurance company, guide its financing and other operations, and work with the Legislature and Bureau of Insurance through this complex process. MGARA began its operations in July 2012 as planned and is currently providing reinsurance for over 3,000 of Maine's sickest individuals. Pierce Atwood is proud to have served MGARA and the State in this important work.

Organization of Maine Guaranteed Access Reinsurance Association

We advised a major national insurer regarding the privacy law implications of its big data marketing initiatives.

Privacy Law Implications of Marketing with Big Data