Thomas L. Forsyth And Frank A. Lattal Elected ARIAS∙U.S. Officers For 2008

New York, NY, November 7, 2007

Thomas L. Forsyth, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Partner Reinsurance Company of the U.S. of Greenwich, Connecticut, has been elected Chairman of ARIAS•U.S., the AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society, at its Annual Conference in New York City.  He succeeds Mary A. Lopatto, a partner in Chadbourne & Parke LLP, who has retired.  Frank A. Lattal, Chief Claims Officer for ACE Ltd., was elected President, succeeding Mr. Forsyth.

Also at the conference, Susan A. Stone, a litigation partner at Sidley Austin LLP’s Chicago office, was elected President Elect.

In addition, Jeffrey M. Rubin, Senior Vice President, Director Global Claims of Odyssey America Reinsurance Corporation and Mary Kay Vyskocil, a litigation partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP were elected as new members of the Board of Directors.  They replace departing Board members Mary A. Lopatto and Thomas S. Orr, of General Reinsurance Corporation.  Also, Mr. Lattal and Ms. Stone were re-elected to the Board for three-year terms.

Prior to joining PartnerRe, Chairman Forsyth had been General Counsel and Secretary of OneBeacon Insurance Group and, previous to that, General Counsel of Swiss Reinsurance America Corporation and Chief General Counsel of the Americas Division of Swiss Re’s Property and Casualty Business Group.  At Swiss Re, he was responsible for legal issues in North and South America as well as a variety of claims, contracts and compliance matters.

From 1983 to 1994, Mr. Forsyth was a member of the Law Department of the Travelers Insurance Companies, where his practice focused on asbestos and environmental coverage claims and litigation.  He was an associate at Barger & Wolen in Los Angeles from 1981 to 1983. 

Mr. Forsyth is a graduate of Occidental College and the University of Southern California Law Center, where he was a member of the Southern California Law Review.

Mr. Lattal is the senior executive responsible for all aspects of claims management and administration for the  ACE Group of Companies, worldwide.  He has held that position since 2003. He joined ACE in December 1998 as Senior Vice President and Claims Counsel and, in January 2002, was appointed Executive Vice President and General Counsel with responsibility for the consolidated Claims and Legal departments of ACE Bermuda.

Prior to joining ACE, Mr. Lattal spent 14 years in private practice specializing in tort and insurance law as a partner in the New Jersey law firm of Connell, Foley & Geiser, LLP. 

Mr. Lattal is admitted to practice law in both New York and New Jersey.  He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Bucknell University, received his law degree from Valparaiso University School of Law where he was member of the Law Review, and holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies from Montclair State University.

ARIAS•U.S. is a not-for-profit corporation that seeks to improve the insurance and reinsurance arbitration process by providing training and education in the skills necessary to serve effectively on an insurance /reinsurance panel.

ARIAS is the leading trade association for the insurance and reinsurance arbitration industry.  It has nearly 1200 members, which include insurance and reinsurance companies, professional arbitrators, and law firms with substantial interest and involvement in the arbitration process.  Through conferences, seminars and publications, ARIAS seeks to strengthen the arbitration process to meet the needs of today’s insurance/reinsurance marketplace.

For an electronic version of this release, email [email protected].

For complete information about ARIAS•U.S., including access to its certified arbitrator search system, visit the website at www.arias-us.org or contact its administrative offices at 914-966-3180, extension 116.

Contact:

CINN Worldwide, Inc.
William Yankus
[email protected]
914-966-3180, ext. 116