In re: Assicurazioni Generali, S.p.A., No. 05-5612

In an action seeking payment of benefits on insurance policies purchased by plaintiffs' family members from defendant-insurer in the years leading up to the Holocaust, dismissal of the action is affirmed where plaintiffs' state-law claims were preempted by the foreign policy of the U.S., which favored resolution of Holocaust-era insurance claims in the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC), an international claims resolution organization founded by private insurance companies and supported by the U.S. and other foreign government entities.

Read In re: Assicurazioni Generali, S.p.A., No. 05-5612

Appellate Information

Argued: June 10, 2008

Decided: January 15, 2010

Judges

Opinion by Judge Leval

Counsel

For Appellants:

William M. Shernoff, Nancy Sher Cohen, Warrington S. Parker III and Reynold Siemens, Shernoff Bidart & Darras, Claremont, CA

Samuel J. Dubbin, Dubbin & Kravetz, LLP, Coral Gables, FL

For Appellee:

Marco E. Schnabl, Kenneth J. Bialkin, Barry H. Garfinkel and Peter Simshauser, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, New York, NY