Michael D. Young has successfully mediated, arbitrated, or otherwise served in a neutral capacity in a diverse array of insurance coverage, reinsurance and other insurance-related matters. He has been involved as a neutral in hundreds of insurance-related disputes.
More generally, since joining JAMS as a full-time neutral in 1989, Mr. Young has conducted over 1,750 complex or multi-party mediations and arbitrations in over thirty states (as well as in Puerto Rico) and abroad (including in Rome, Madrid and Zurich). Among the 1,750 matters have been approximately 250 arbitrations, appraisals, or other binding dispute resolution proceedings. He has been appointed as a mediator or special master (for discovery management or settlement implementation purposes) by various federal, state and bankruptcy courts. In addition to serving on the JAMS and JAMS International panels, Mr. Young is a member of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR) Panel of Distinguished Neutrals and is a member of the panels of the Beijing Arbitration Commission, Singapore International Mediation Center, Afghanistan Centre for Commercial Dispute Resolution and Center for Arbitration and Dispute Resolution in Israel. He is also an elected fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators.
See Mr. Young's arbitration biography for more information about his work as an arbitrator.
Mr. Young has been recognized by various publications and members of the legal community in New York, and more broadly, as a skilled and widely respected mediator and arbitrator. For example, in 2016 through 2021, Chambers and Partners identified Mr. Young as one of the seven mediators in the United States recognized in Band One and in 2016 noted “his deft, subtle handling of mediations…”
Representative Matters
- Appointed by NYS trial court as a referee to resolve discovery disputes in a declaratory judgment action brought by a group of reinsurers against a cedent and made various written recommendations to the court regarding privilege issues
- Arbitrated, as the neutral chairperson, party-appointed independent arbitrator, or sole arbitrator, numerous reinsurance and insurance coverage disputes, including one relating to coverage for property damage in a nuclear power plant as well as disputes relating to exclusions or other coverage defenses arising under “E&O,” “D&O,” EPL, CGL and Fidelity policies
- Conducted a "med-arb" in a dispute between two carriers regarding the purchase of a line of business by one from the other
- Conducted a non-binding evaluation of a multimillion dollar reinsurance dispute in which the reinsurer defended on the basis that the cedent made misleading statements regarding the risk
- Mediated multiple “long tail” claims between an insured and multiple CGL carriers at both the primary and excess levels, including matters relating to underlying toxic tort suits and relating to head injuries in professional sports, resulting in resolutions encompassing both the payment of money as well as “cost-sharing” or “coverage in place” agreements
- Mediated claim by major airline against its "aviation liability" policy carrier with respect to costs of remediating fuel spills at various airports
- Mediated efforts by insurers either to disclaim or to rescind a policy based on alleged misrepresentations or omissions in applications for insurance
- Mediated multiple disputes between cedents and reinsurers regarding different types of risks, many involving either London-based or other off-shore insurers or re-insurance companies or syndicates, and mediated a multi-million dollar collection proceeding by an American insurer against a Mexican re-insurer and its parent corporations, raising issues of Mexican substantive law and procedure
- Mediated multiple first-party claims by insureds against insurers under disability and property damage policies, including a multi-million dollar claim by a beverage manufacturer arising out of its inability to use "off-spec" product, a claim by a cruise ship owner regarding damage to a pier it owns in Mexico and a claim relating to fire damage to a refinery
- Mediated multiple insurance coverage disputes between an insured and one or multiple carriers seeking defense costs and/or indemnity for a settlement and judgment, including, for example:
- Disputes between "D&O" carriers and insured entities relating to such questions as to whether an SEC request for information is a "claim" and whether various exclusions apply
- Claim by a municipality against seven primary and excess insurers all of which had disclaimed coverage -- under multiple grounds including late notice, whether an "occurrence" had taken place and "other insurance" clauses -- for a multi-million dollar economic tort claim that the municipality had previously settled
- Coverage claims arising out of underlying patent-related and/or "advertising injury" litigation
- Mediated numerous coverage disputes arising in construction litigation, mostly relating to the definition of "occurrence" and work product defect exclusions under comprehensive general liability policies held by contractors or subcontractors, as well as a dispute regarding coverage under a "builder's risk" policy; and mediated disputes arising in employment litigations between "employment practices liability" insurance carriers and employer/insureds, as well as disputes between lawyers and accountants as insureds and their professional liability insurers under "errors and omissions" policies
- Mediated in multiple instances coverage-related issues arising in securities class actions, mostly arising under D&O policies, but also under professional liability policies
- Served as an "umpire" in various binding property-damage insurance appraisals, including two matters arising out of the World Trade Center collapse
