Jason S. Dubner

Partner | Litigation

About

Jason Dubner is a litigation attorney in Pierson Ferdinand's Chicago office, where he focuses his practice on assisting insurers and their managing general agents (MGAs) with the analysis and resolution of representations and warranties insurance (RWI) claims.

  • Mr. Dubner has experience advising clients in connection with various types of RWI claims, including alleged breaches of representations regarding condition of assets, compliance with laws, and financial statements, as well as those regarding material contracts, customers and suppliers. He also regularly collaborates with financial advisors to analyze an insured’s claimed loss arising out of such alleged breaches. Prior to joining Pierson Ferdinand, Mr. Dubner was a Partner on the RWI team at Holland & Knight. And before that, he co-chaired the RWI practice at the Chicago office of Porter Wright Morris & Arthur.

    Mr. Dubner also has handled a variety of complex commercial litigations and arbitrations, with an emphasis on reinsurance, insurance and antitrust disputes. Since 2017, he has been an appointed panelist on the American Arbitration Association (AAA) National Roster of Arbitrators, where he maintains an active AAA arbitration practice adjudicating commercial disputes.

    As a former economic analyst with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Mr. Dubner brings the combined perspectives of an economist and a regulator to his law practice. He has more than 25 years of experience advising and representing corporate clients in litigation to remedy the economic damages that they have incurred because of antitrust conspiracies in the market for key inputs into their own business operations. Mr. Dubner has also represented organizations defending against class action allegations that their companies have been part of an antitrust conspiracy either to fix prices or reduce output in a variety of industries. His experience also includes successfully defending clients against related allegations of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act violations, fraud, conspiracy and breach of contract. He also has experience counseling clients on antitrust matters before state and federal regulators, including in response to third-party subpoenas and civil investigative demands (CIDs).

    Mr. Dubner also has first-chaired and second-chaired a number of significant reinsurance arbitrations, representing cedents and reinsurers. Among those arbitrations, Mr. Dubner has dealt with multiple disputes involving automobile dealer/producer-owned reinsurance companies and cedents over the termination of their reinsurance agreements, having served as counsel as well as umpire and party-appointed arbitrator on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) panels faced with related issues.

Practices

  • Transactional Liability Insurance

  • Antitrust Counseling

  • Arbitration and Mediation

  • Class Action Defense

  • Commercial Litigation

  • Insurance

Admissions

  • Illinois

  • District of Columbia

  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

  • U.S. Court of Federal Claims

Education

  • The University of Chicago Law School, J.D.

  • Swarthmore College, B.A.

Memberships

  • American Arbitration Association (AAA), National Roster of Arbitrators, Panelist

  • American Bar Association, Antitrust Law Section; Health Care and Pharmaceuticals Committee, Former Vice Chair; Insurance and Financial Services Committee, Former Vice Chair; The Exchange Newsletter, Former Editor; Compliance and Ethics Committee, Former Vice Chair; Distribution and Franchising Committee, Former Vice Chair; The Franchise and Dealership Termination Handbook (2d ed.), Former Co-Project Chair

  • Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances (AIDA) Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS-U.S.)

  • Illinois State Bar Association, Section on Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law, Member; Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Newsletter, Former Co-Editor

  • Chicago Bar Association, Antitrust Law Committee, Former Chairman; Former Vice Chairman

Honors and Awards

  • The Best Lawyers in America guide, Insurance Law, 2024, 2025

  • The Legal 500 USA, Insurance, 2018

Experience

  • Holland & Knight LLP

  • Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP (successor to Butler Rubin Saltarelli & Boyd LLP)

  • Jones Day

Representative Experience

Counseling

  • Advise insurers and managing general agents (MGAs) in response to claims presented by insureds on representations and warranties insurance (RWI) policies

  • Advise reinsurer in connection with potential acquisitions of various books of insurance business

  • Assist nonparty recipients of civil investigative demands (CIDs) and subpoenas in connection with an ongoing merger investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

  • Assist nonparty recipient with response to CIDs/subpoenas issued by the City of Chicago

  • Represent pro bono client seeking political asylum in proceedings before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

  • Counseled global leader in fluid-handling technologies for pump products, dispensing equipment and other industrial products regarding changes to nationwide distribution network

Litigation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Matters

  • Represented insurers and managing general agents (MGAs) in response to claims presented by insureds on representations and warranties insurance (RWI) policies

  • Represented a leading supplier of private-label food and beverage products seeking to recover damages caused by its supplier's delivery and subsequent recall of potentially contaminated sunflower kernels

  • Represented a health insurer in a dispute with the federal government over its failure to make risk corridors payments under Section 1342 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

  • Defended a satellite dish installer in a putative class action by service technicians against claims alleging violations of the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act and the Illinois Minimum Wage Law

  • Represented an insight-driven marketing company in a dispute with a former employee and new employer regarding inevitable misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of employee agreement/tortious interference with contract

  • Represented an insurer seeking declaration that no coverage exists with regard to multimillion-dollar settlements of certain underlying managed care disputes and that the insured has an obligation to reimburse the insurer for previously advanced defense costs

  • Represented a writer of workers' compensation insurance in a $1 billion dispute against an industry leader regarding its fraudulent underreporting of premium

  • Represented an issuer of credit insurance policies in a dispute with an insured bank over the absence of coverage for claims submitted regarding defaults on home equity loans

  • Represented purchasers of substantial quantities of corrugated products in an action for treble damages as opt-outs from class action antitrust litigation

  • Represented a real estate investment trust (REIT) in litigation involving the interpretation of its commercial lease; obtained summary judgment against the defendants' corporate entity followed by a favorable negotiated settlement with the individual defendants

  • Represented an international manufacturer and distributor of computer software in defense of action by disgruntled end-user alleging fraud, breach of contract/warranty and negligent misrepresentation

  • Defended a designer and distributor of advanced software applications in action brought by a former competitor for breach of contract in connection with assumption of competitor's operation; conducted full hearing on the merits, followed by a favorable negotiated settlement

Reinsurance Arbitrations

  • Represented a reinsurer of variable annuity death and income benefits in dispute with cedent regarding contract interpretation issues

  • Represented a reinsurer in dispute over ceding company's failure to disclose asbestos exposures at the time of placement

  • Represented a reinsurer of variable annuity death benefits in three-week arbitration hearing with cedent life insurer, including presentation of statistical and industry expert testimony

  • Represented a cedent at hearing and obtained a $45 million award for losses and loss adjustment expense arising out of surety business produced by a general agent

  • Represented a reinsurer at hearing to enforce its right to receive unearned premium on a run-off basis following termination of the reinsurance agreement by the cedent

  • Represented a cedent at hearing to timely recover limits on an aggregate excess of loss contract

Publications

  • NY Merger Ruling Offers Costly Lesson on Vague RW Terms, Law360, February 1, 2021

  • Early Neutral Evaluation Can Diffuse Reps and Warranty Disputes, Law360, June 14, 2018

  • What DOJ Investigation Means for Generic Drug Plaintiffs, Law360, June 16, 2017

  • 7th Circuit May Clarify Rep and Warranty Insurer Duties, Law360, May 16, 2017

  • ACA Risk Corridor Funding Falls Short, Litigation Ensues, Law360, June 9, 2016

  • Emerging Disputes Over Risk Sharing Under the ACA, Law360, April 18, 2016

  • District Court Holds Antitrust Opt-Outs Not Allowed Back in the Class, Corporate Counsel, October 2014

Speaking Engagements

  • Building Blocks: Hot Topics in Private Equity, Holland & Knight, Stout, November 7, 2024

  • Arbitration Competition National Finals, American Bar Association, January 19, 2024

In the News