James A. Robertson, CPCU, ARM— Interisk Limited

Expertise and Experience:

Mr. Robertson has more than 40 years of experience providing insurance litigation consulting for attorneys on industry customs and practices related to property and casualty coverage litigation. Mr. Robertson specializes in liability especially commercial general liability (“CGL”), excess and umbrella, and environmental coverages. He has provided consulting services on captives, risk retention groups and self-insurance programs, performed contract reviews, and other insurance and risk management services. Mr. Robertson's full curriculum vitae is available through the Interisk website, along with a broader list of sample engagements.

Mr. Robertson has testified on a variety of topics, including

• Underwriting practices involving primary general, excess and umbrella coverages;
• Pollution and environmental coverages;
• Products liability;
• The historical development of various lines of casualty coverage;
• Premium rating methods, including retrospective rating;
• Self-insurance;
• Alternative risk transfer, including captive insurance companies
• Insurance agents' and brokers' duties/standard of care;
• Professional errors and omissions;
• Claims management;
• Reinsurance placement;
• Marine coverage.

Mr. Robertson also is a preeminent historian of insurance literature. Over the course of his career, he has conducted extensive research on the history of all major forms of general, excess, and umbrella liability from the 1880's through the present. His early research was published in The Umbrella Book, which examined the wording and coverage differences between various types of umbrella and excess liability policy forms. Mr. Robertson's collection of current and historical insurance materials is considered to be one of the best in the country, and ranges from books, articles, and reference materials, to reports and laws related to the insurance industry. These materials are referenced on a regular basis as part of consulting services Interisk provides to its clients.

Mr. Robertson's expertise as an underwriter has served in several projects including property & casualty insurance, workers' compensation, and bad faith.  He has garnered extensive knowledge about insurance customs and practices, with emphasis on general, umbrella and excess liability.  Additionally, he possesses expertise in risk management, captive insurers and risk financing plans.

Career:

Mr. Robertson began his career as a property and casualty underwriter for the Hartford Insurance Group. Later, he was underwriting manager and assistant vice president of administration at Tausch Insurance Brokers, and then served as senior vice president of Reed Risk Management International, a subsidiary of Reed Stenhouse. He also served as director of insurance litigation services and provided risk management consulting at Coopers Lybrand, where he specialized in consulting for attorneys on industry customs and practices related to insurance coverage litigation, underwriting, and agent/broker practices before establishing Interisk in 1992.

Mr. Robertson earned his bachelor's degree in psychology and religion at the University of Iowa, and a master's degree in business administration from Pepperdine University. He also completed an executive education program at Stanford University Law School's Directors' College. Mr. Robertson's professional credentials include a California Fire & Casualty Insurance Broker's License, a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation earned in 1973 from the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, Inc., and an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation earned in 1976 from the Insurance Institute of America. Mr. Robertson also is a member of numerous professional associations, including the American Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, Society of Risk Management Consultants, and the CPCU Society.

 Mr. Robertson has taught and lectured extensively on all types of property and casualty insurance coverages, self-insurance, captives, quantitative and statistical methods used in risk management, and practices for insurance agents and brokers to more effectively handle large accounts, provide client services and control errors & omissions. His publications include ISO Commercial Liability Forms: A Side-by-Side Comparison, The Captive Insurance Manual, It's Time to Take the Mystery Out of Umbrellas, and The Umbrella Book. His numerous published articles have appeared in Business Insurance, Risk Management, The Broker, and the CPCU Journal, among others.