The move is a loss for Skadden, which under Ms. Birnbaum's leadership has built a premier product liability practice, defending companies from complex mass tort claims.
Widely recognized for his expertise in products liability litigation, an area in which he focused almost exclusively for more than two decades, Gary was head of the firm's products liability practice, as well as a member of Chadbourne's Management Committee.
"Directors and officers are exposed to liability at every turn," says Susanne Murray Susanne Murray, national D&O liability practice leader at Willis Group Holdings, the London-based insurance brokerage firm.
Having employment practices liability insurance that covered his legal expenses strengthened his resolve.
Some companies mitigate this with generous severance packages, ironclad employment-at-will provisions and employment practices liability insurance.
When it was introduced a decade ago, employment practices liability insurance seemed like the perfect response to changes in federal law that increased the risks for employers.
Roughly 30percentt of the companies surveyed in 1999 by the Society for Human Resource Management and Jackson Lewis, a law firm specializing in employment issues, had some sort of employment practices liability coverage.
Both federal and state officials emphasized that the liability for past practices remained at the heart of the delay, rather than the size of the monetary penalties and other payments.
"We are not making money on this coverage line and have not been for some time," said Michael J. Maloney, an executive with Chubb, one of the largest providers of what is called employment practices liability insurance, which covers bias, harassment and similar claims brought by employees.
More than 100 insurance firms in America now offer "employment practices liability insurance" (EPLI), which covers employers' legal costs, damages and settlements in lawsuits for discrimination and harassment.Perhaps the most potent influence on the growth of litigation in America has been its workers' lack of job security.
