Eric J. Sauter
Partner, Wilson Elser LLP
Eric Sauter represents non-profits, private employers, insurers and reinsurers and co-chairs the firm’s Reinsurance network. With more than 25 years of litigation experience, Eric has been defending employment matters long before EPL policies became common in the marketplace. He has continued his practice in this area and expanded his representation of non-profits and private employers, their insurers and reinsurers in matters concerning EPL, E&O, first-party property, business interruption, casualty, LPL, HPL and D&O. Eric developed a particular concentration in representing non-profit organizations in a full range of matters, including, but not limited to, defending claims of molestation, wrongful discharge, civil rights violations as well as pursuing commercial rights through litigation and handling transactional work.
In the insurance and reinsurance space, Eric has served as the lead attorney in a number of multi-party national coverage litigations. He has a command of the interplay of the financial products often involved in unusual and complex assignments. He also counsels clients with respect to procedures, risk management and strategic advancement. Eric honed his product development skills while serving as the first Wilson Elser attorney seconded to one of the largest multi-line syndicates at Lloyd’s of London, where his direct reports were to the property underwriter, the professional indemnity underwriter and the casualty underwriter. Eric continues to create products and programs for Lloyd’s and for domestic admitted and surplus lines insurers and reinsurers.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Eric is a frequent speaker, having lectured on “Excess and Primary Liability Issues” at the Bermuda CPCU Society; “NRRA – Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act” for the Brokers & Reinsurance Markets Association; “Bad Faith Liability” at the New York State Bar Association’s Law School for Insurance Professionals; “Non-Profit Liability” at the 2010 and 2011 Risk Management and Finance Summit for Non-Profits; and “Wrongful Sex” at the Professional Liability Underwriting Society’s International Conference. Eric also has written and contributed to a number of publications, including Alternative Dispute Resolution in Practice, published by the Insurance Institute of London; Course Book on Bad Faith Liability, published by the New York State Bar Association; and “Solicitation of Insurance,” published as a chapter in a book compiled by Agents of America. In addition, he is the co-editor of Wilson Elser’s Punitive Damages Review.