During the past decade, Seeger Weiss LLP has played a pivotal role in many notable insurance market practices class actions brought against members of the life insurance industry. These nationwide suits resulted from alleged misrepresentations made in connection with the sale of certain life insurance products, including “vanishing premium” policies which, due to market-sensitive dividend projections, required customers to pay premiums on a more prolonged basis than originally expected.
In 1995, Weissman & Seeger (Chris Seeger’s firm before co-founding Seeger Weiss LLP) was appointed as the national Policy Owner Representative in the New York Life Insurance Company sales practices litigation, the first settlement of a nationwide class action relating to the vanishing premium insurance product. That litigation involved claims brought by a class of approximately 3.2 million New York Life policy owners who suffered damages as the result of allegedly improper sales practices by the company and its agents, including the alleged failure to properly disclose the market-sensitivity of the company’s premium payment projections. As Policy Owner Representative, Chris Seeger served as the principal advocate on behalf of members of the class who elected to pursue individual claim relief before independent appeal boards.
After its founding, Seeger Weiss LLP, followed up on Chris Seeger’s New York Life Litigation appointment by serving as Attorney Representative in the In re Prudential Life Insurance Sales Practices Litigation. In that role, the Firm, and others serving under its auspices, represented individual class members in connection with over 53,000 separate claim arbitrations.
In addition to the New York Life and Prudential matters, the Firm has served as the Policy Owner Representative, Attorney Representative, or Claim Evaluator in the following insurance sales practices class actions: In re Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada Insurance Litigation; Ace Seat Cover Co., Inc. v. The Pacific Life Insurance Co.; In re Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. Premium Litigation; Roy v. Independent Order of Foresters; Murray v. Indianapolis Life Insurance Co.; In re New England Mutual Life Insurance Company Sales Practices Litigation; Manners and Philip A. Levin v. American General Life Insurance Co.; Moody v. American General Life and Accident Insurance Co.; Garst v. The Franklin Life Insurance Co.; Lee v. US Life Corp.; In re Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Sales Practices Litigation; Duhaime v. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co.; Benacquisto v. American Express Financial Corporation; Snell v. Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America; and Wemer v. The Ohio National Life Insurance. Co.