IN MEMORIAM: Eugene Wollan

Eugene Wollan

By Steve Acunto

The sad news of Gene Wollan’s passing reached this office on the wintry morning of February 3rd. The Times obituary reported in simple terms that he died at home after a long illness, with his family at his side. We hope it was peaceful for him, a great friend of many years, a contributor to our pages and, above all, a great proponent of excellence and ethical practice in insurance and reinsurance law. We were privileged to publish his work in many incarnations from his newsletters for ARIAS•US to his thoughtful essays in the Advocate over thirty years, as critical issues called for expert comment.

Gene was graduated from Harvard College (cum laude) and Harvard Law School and concentrated for forty-eight years on property and casualty insurance claims litigation, commercial insurance litigation, and reinsurance controversies. He served as an expert witness and as umpire and arbitrator in insurance and reinsurance disputes, and has testified in Great Britain as an expert witness on New York insurance law. He was a certified arbitrator and umpire by ARIAS•U.S. as well as the Editor of its publication, the ARIAS•U.S. Quarterly.

Gene authored the treatise Handbook of Reinsurance Law (Aspen Law & Business, 2002). He is co-author with Arthur N. Brook of the chapter on Property Insurance contained in Business Insurance Law and Practice Guide (Matthew Bender, 1989) and with Lawrence S. Greengrass of the chapter on Arbitration of Reinsurance Cases contained in Prosecuting and Defending Insurance Claims (John Wiley & Sons, 1989). He and Jeffrey S. Weinstein prepared the 2010 revisions to the chapter on Property Insurance in Appleman’s New York Insurance Law. Mr. Wollan’s articles have appeared in Best’s Review, ReActions, Reinsurance, Insurance and Reinsurance Law International, International Insurance Monitor, Insurance Counsel Journal, The United States Reinsurance Report, and the Insurance Advocate. He was a contributing editor on insurance law of The John Liner Review, and a member of the Editorial Board of Risk Management Reports.

In addition to his role as Senior Counsel at Mound Cotton Wollan, Mr. Wollan was a Vice-President of AmTrust International Insurance, Ltd. He was a member of the Property Insurance Committee and the Reinsurance Committee of the International Association of Defense Counsel, and of the International Society of Barristers, L’Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances (AIDA U.S. Chapter), the Defense Research Institute, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the New York County Lawyers’ Association. He has served as Vice President, Executive Committee member, and member of the Board of Directors of AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS•U.S.), was the Editor of the ARIAS Quarterly publication, and served on the ARIAS Long Range Planning Committee. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of Copenhagen Reinsurance Company. He lectured at seminars and meetings sponsored by, among others, the Defense Research Institute, Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association, ARIAS•U.S., Mealey’s, Euroforum, Loss Executives Association, Insurance Information Institute, Inland Marine Underwriters Association, Executive Enterprises, Inc., New South Wales Reinsurance Discussion Group, Australian Reinsurance Rendezvous, and Australian Insurance Law Association.

Mr. Wollan was Colonel in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, U.S. Army Reserve (Retired), and was an honor graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

In a peer survey, he was named as one of the five leading insurance / reinsurance lawyers in the U.S. and one of the leading twenty in the world, and he was described as “dean of the [reinsurance] bar” and “one of the best insurance arbitrators in the business.”

Gene enjoyed the opera and was as much at home writing humorous and human interest pieces as the most intricate reinsurance observations.

We extend our condolences to his wife of 36 years, Marjorie, and to his children, stepchildren, and grandchildren. Contributions may be made to: Weill Cornell Heart Failure Center in memory of Eugene Wollan for Fellowship support, c/o Sylvia Gottlieb, Perkin Heart Failure Center Division of Cardiology, 520 East 70th St., Starr 443 NY, NY 10021 Fax: 212-746- 6665.

The Insurance Advocate expresses to his family our sincere condolences.