Counterclaim Seeking Disqualification of Law Firm From Reinsurance Arbitration Survives Dismissal in N.Y.

ALBANY, N.Y. — Two reinsurers may proceed with their counterclaim seeking to bar the law firm of Hunton & Williams from representing Utica Mutual Insurance Co. in a reinsurance arbitration, a New York federal judge has ruled, finding that they have sufficiently alleged a relationship with the law firm to warrant inquiry into the potential conflict.

On Sept. 22, Senior Judge Norman A. Mordue of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York held that the reinsurers’ counterclaim “plausibly alleges that the witness-advocate rule may apply in this case.”

National Casualty Co. and Utica, on one hand, …