CAPTIVE INSURERS HONOR VERMONT REGULATOR

For more than 30 years, Leonard Crouse has been credited as a key figure in advancing the captive insurance industry.

Now Crouse, the deputy commissioner for captive insurance for Vermont, has been honored for his efforts with the 2007 Distinguished Service Award presented at the Captive Insurance Companies Association International Annual Conference in Arizona. The award recognizes significant contributions to advancing the captive insurance industry.

"It was a great honor to receive this award," said Crouse. "It is a reflection on what a tremendous industry we have built together here in Vermont."

Vermont is the nation's largest captive insurance domicile with nearly 800 companies licensed, including 42 of the companies that make up the Fortune 100 and 19 of that make up the Dow 30.

Crouse was appointed deputy commissioner of captive insurance in May of 2003. He has served on committees and working groups representing both Vermont and Massachusetts at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Prior to working in Vermont, he was a chief examiner for the Massachusetts Insurance Department.

Crouse has published a number of articles for trade publications and is a speaker at seminars and conferences nationwide.

N.Y BAR OWNER CHARGED IN DRUNK EMPLOYEE FATAL CRASH

A Putnam County, New York bar owner has been charged with allowing an off-duty bartender to drink and drive, resulting in a head-on crash that killed her and another woman.

Sandra Longchamps, a bar manager at The Paddock bar in Patterson, had finished her shift the day of the Super Bowl and then stayed to have drinks, the Putnam County Sheriff's Department said. She then drove about a mile, crossed the median line on Route 22 and plowed into a minivan, the sheriff said. A coroner said Longchamps' blood alcohol level was 0.345, or more than four times the legal limit.

Kirsten Henry, a mother of three, was killed. Her husband and children, ages 7, 4 and 2, were injured.

The Sheriff's Department said Ray Knox Jr., who owns The Paddock was charged with violating the state's alcoholic beverage law, which can deem a bartender or server liable for injuries or damages caused by an intoxicated patron or guest. Police said Knox allowed Longchamps to be served while she was visibly intoxicated and allowed her to drink while knowing she "habitually drank too much," The Journal News reported.

The paper said statements from the police contradicted Knox's claims that Longchamps stopped by only to get her cell phone and dinner for her teenage sons.

TRIAL STARTS FOR FORMER MARSH EXECS

Two former executives of giant insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. went on trial earlier this month for what prosecutors said were their roles in a lucrative bid rigging scheme.

William Gilman, who was executive marketing director, and Edward J. McNenney, ex-global placement director, are charged in Manhattan's state Supreme Court with scheme to defraud, first- and second-degree grand larceny and restraint of trade.

The two have pleaded not guilty. If Justice James Yates convicts them, they each would face up to 25 years in prison.

Their lawyers say the state attorney general did not like the way the defendants worked but they did nothing criminal.

The prosecution says the defendants conspired with brokers and companies to arrange noncompetitive bids for Marsh's customers from late 1998 to September 2004. Customers included Vivendi, Cisco Systems, IBM, and State Farm.

"This case is about greedy and arrogant people," said Assistant Attorney General Nina Sas. "Instead of letting market forces work, they became the market forces" by controlling how much was bid to get business and by whom it was bid.

Sas said that the former executives set a target premium for the predetermined winner to bid after getting deliberately losing bids from other insurers.

The defendants' lawyers acknowledged that their clients' approach was not pure "unguided competition" but said it worked best for all. They said some carriers are not suited to insuring specific businesses and that the scheme helped avoid gaps in coverage, and lent more stability in premium costs.

In January 2005, Marsh agreed to pay $850 million to end then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's investigation.

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USI HOLDINGS GRANTED LIMIT ON COPYRIGHT DAMAGES

USI Holdings Corp. reported that a federal court has granted its motion for partial summary judgment on a statue of limitations issue in the copyright infringement action William A. Graham Company v. Thomas P. Haughey and USI MidAtlantic Inc. (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, CA NO. 05-612).

The company's subsidiary, USI MidAtlantic Inc. (USIM), and one of its employees, Thomas P. Haughey, are the defendants in the action.

2006 veridct
Following a June 2006 jury verdict against USIM and Haughey for copyright infringement in the amounts of $16.6 million and $2.2 million, respectively, USIM and Haughey filed post-trial motions on various grounds, requesting that the court overturn the verdict or grant a new trial.

On Nov. 21, 2006, the court granted USIM's and Haughey's motion for a new trial on the issue of the application of the statute of limitation and on damages. Thereafter, USIM and Haughey filed a motion for summary judgment on the statute of limitations issue, which was granted by the court on March 29, 2007.

According to USI, the effect of the court's most recent ruling is to limit any damages awarded to plaintiff to the period beginning three years prior to plaintiff's commencement of the action rather than the 13-year period considered by the jury in the original trial.

A new trial date has not been set.