Thomas R. Newman

Of Counsel

  • Thomas R. Newman
  • Phone: +1 212 692 1028

    Thomas R. Newman - LinkedIn Import to Address Book

  • Duane Morris LLP
    22 Vanderbilt
    335 Madison Avenue, 23rd Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4669
    USA

Thomas R. Newman practices in the areas of insurance and reinsurance law, including coverage, claims handling and arbitration. He has served as lead counsel in more than 60 reinsurance arbitrations, representing both cedents and reinsurers, and often as an expert witness on insurance claims handling. He has participated as an expert witness or co-counsel in more than 20 insurance related arbitrations and court proceedings in London and has served as an arbitrator in insurance cases in the United States and London.

Mr. Newman also has wide experience in appellate practice. He has handled hundreds of appeals in both state and federal courts in New York and elsewhere, including 80 appeals in the New York Court of Appeals.

He is a life member of the American Law Institute; a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators; a Fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel; a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Counsel; a member of ARIAS-U.S.; a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel; a Fellow of the New York State Bar Association Foundation and of the American Bar Foundation; and a member of the New York State Office of Court Administration's Advisory Committee on Civil Practice.

He is the original author of New York Appellate Practice (LexisNexis, 1985), and a columnist on Appellate Practice for the NY Law Journal since 1975; co-author of the Handbook on Insurance Coverage Disputes (Wolters Kluwer 22nd ed. 2024) and author of numerous articles on insurance/reinsurance and appellate practice in Law Reviews and other peer-reviewed publications. Mr. Newman has been regularly listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America and New York Super Lawyers, for appellate practice and insurance law.

Areas of Practice

  • Insurance Coverage
  • Reinsurance Arbitration/Litigation
  • International Arbitration
  • Appellate Practice

Representative Matters

  • Kransco v. AESLIC 23 Cal. 4th 390 (2000) - Argued novel "reverse bad faith" case in California Supreme Court.
  • Christiana General Insurance Co. v. Great American Insurance Co. 979 F.2d 269 (2d Cir. 1992) - Upheld cedent's position in reinsurance dispute - issues of late notice and misrepresentation.
  • American Home Insurance Co. v. International Insurance Co. 90 N.Y.2d 433 (1997) - Upheld "late notice - no prejudice" rule in N.Y. Court of Appeals as applied to excess insurers.
  • Consolidated Edison Co. of NY v. Allstate Insurance Co. 98 N.Y.2d 208 (2002) - Case of first impression in New York Court of Appeals involving allocation of liability in environmental coverage case where continuous damage over successive policy periods. Judgement for insurers upheld on appeal.
  • Technicon Elecs. Corp. v. American Home Insurance Co. 74 N.Y.2d 66 (1989) - "Sudden & accidental" pollution exclusion case - in New York Court of Appeals - upheld judgment for insurer.
  • Continental Cas. Co. v. Employers Ins. Co. of Wausau, 60 A.D.3d 128, 871 N.Y.S2d 48 (1st Dept. 2008) - asbestos exposure does not trigger coverage for mesothelioma claims; exposure is not injury-in-fact. Reversed trial court in favor of insurers.

Admissions

  • New York
  • Supreme Court of the United States
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Education

  • New York University School of Law, LL.B., 1960

Experience

  • Duane Morris LLP
    - Of Counsel, 2003-present
  • Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP
    - Of Counsel, 1999-2003
  • Newman & Company, P.C.
    - President and Founding Member, 1991-1999
  • Bower & Gardner
    - Partner, 1987-1991
  • Siff & Newman
    - Founding Partner, 1971-1987
  • Sabin, Bermant & Blau (formerly Goldman, Evans & Goldman)
    - Associate/Partner, 1963-1970
  • New York State Court of Appeals
    - Law Clerk to Honorable Charles W. Froessel, 1960-1962

Professional Activities

  • New York State Bar Association
    - Fellow, New York Bar Foundation
    - Chair, Committee on Courts of Appellate Jurisdiction, 1981-1985; 2018-present

  • Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
    - Awarded its Diploma in International Arbitration, 2013
  • Frequent lecturer and author on insurance and reinsurance law and appellate practice
  • Co-editor and Co-chair, "Insurance, Excess and Reinsurance Coverage Disputes," Practising Law Institute, Annually, 1983-1997
  • American Bar Association
    - Tort and Insurance Practice Section
  • The Association of the Bar of the City of New York
    - Special Committee on Tort Litigation, 1984-1987
  • American Law Institute
    - Life Member
  • Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel
  • American Academy of Appellate Lawyers
  • New York State Office of Court Administration
    - Advisory Committee on Civil Practice, 1987-present
  • AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS-U.S.)
  • American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel

Honors and Awards

  •  Recipient of the New York Law Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award, 2024

  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in America, 2007-2024

  • Named a Best Lawyers "Lawyer of the Year" in Appellate Practice, New York, 2013-2014 and 2018-2019

  • Listed in New York Metro Super Lawyers

  • Listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers, 2005-2008 and 2010-2017 editions
  • Referenced in Legal 500 U.S.- Leading Lawyers for Insurance: Advice to Insurers 2015
  • Listed in Who's Who Legal: Insurance & Reinsurance, 2015
  • Named as a 2014 Top Rated Lawyer in Insurance Law by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell
  • Listed in The New York Area's Best Lawyers by New York Magazine for Appellate Law and Insurance Law, 2009-2015
  • AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®

Selected Publications

Books

  • Co-Author, Ostrager & Newman, "Handbook on Insurance Coverage Disputes," 22nd ed. (Walters Kluwer 2024)
  • Author, New York Appellate Practice (Matthew Bender 1985)

Articles

  • "Restrictions on the Insured's Right to Settle," Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC) Quarterly, Summer 2011
  • "Arbitrability and Arbitrating with a Non-Signatory," ARIAS-U.S. Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 3, Third Quarter 2011
  • "Is there an Expert in the House? Expert Evidence in Insurance Coverage Cases," Defense Counsel Journal, October 2007
  • "Triggering Coverage Under An 'Awareness Clause' of a Claims-Made Liability Policy," Thomas R. Newman and Michael L. Goia, Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 2, Winter 1999
  • "Challenging an Insured's Settlement," Thomas R. Newman and Aidan M. McCormack, Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 2, Winter 1997. Recipient , FICC's Andrew Hecker Award for Best Quarterly Article for 1996-1997
  • "Applying the Owned Property Exclusion to Groundwater Contamination Claims," Thomas R. Newman and Aidan M. McCormack, For the Defense, Vol. 38, No. 4, April 1996
  • "Attempts To Avoid Application of the Owned-Property Exclusions To Groundwater Contamination Claims: New Jersey Courts Draw The Line," Thomas R. Newman and Aidan M. McCormack, Mealey's Litigation Reports: Insurance, Vol. 9, No. 47, October 17, 1995
  • "The Antisubrogation Rule in Construction Accident Cases," Thomas R. Newman and Patrick J. Dellay, Torts, Insurance & Compensation Law Journal, New York State Bar Association, Vol. 24, No. 1, June 1995
  • "Excess Liability Insurance Over Self-Insured Retentions," 44 FICC Quarterly 127, Winter, 1994
  • "There Is No General Duty to Investigate Before Denying Defense or Coverage for Third-Party Claims," Mealey's Litigation Reports: Insurance, Vol. 7, No. 29, June 1, 1993
  • "Damages: A Call For Meaningful Precedents," 3 Pace Law Review 605, 1983

New York Law Journal columnist on Appellate Practice, Sept. 1975 – Co-author with Steven J. Ahmuty, Jr., 1987

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker at Naturalization ceremony swearing in new U.S. citizens in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, May 17, 2017
  • Speaker, "Pro Bono Legal Work in the USA, a case study of Robert Yell v. Commonwealth of Kentucky..." CPE Conference, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, January 19, 2017
  • Participant, Continuing Professional Education Conference, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, January 2016
  • Speaker, "Ethical Considerations in Appellate Practice," Westchester County Bar Association Appellate Practice Committee Program, Appellate Practice: What It's All About, White Plains, New York, March 26, 2015
  • Speaker, "International Arbitration of Insurance Disputes," International Arbitration Club of New York, March 24, 2014
  • Speaker, "An American Abroad: London and Bermuda Arbitration and the Strangely Divergent Worlds of US and UK Insurance Law"," Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee CLE Seminar, March 7, 2014
  • Participant, Bermuda Form Mock Arbitration, British Insurance Law Association, London, November 19, 2013
  • Speaker, "Expert Evidence in Insurance Coverage Cases," 13th Europe Pacific Conference, Pocol, Italy, January 11, 2009
  • Speaker, "Update on Insurance Issues," Lorman seminar, February 13, 2008
  • Speaker, "The Law of Informed Consent," 12th Europe Pacific Medical Legal Conference, Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, January 8, 2008
  • Speaker, "The Gloves Come Off–Reinsurer vs. Insurer," Defense Research Institute's Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium, New York, December 7-8, 2006
  • Speaker, "The Drug Approval Process in the USA and Post-Marketing Surveillance," 10th Europe Pacific Conference, Pocol, Italy, January 9, 2006
  • Speaker, "Reinsurance Arbitration," Glasser LegalWorks seminar "The Reinsurance Law & Practice: Hot Topics," September 2004