James Skarzynski

Practice Areas

Jim has spent his career counseling clients on many of the most high profile and complex cases involving a broad range of professional liability coverage. He has been in the vanguard of critical issues and developments affecting these insurance products for decades and has been instrumental in the resolution of insurance coverage issues for many “nine-figure” exposure cases. He also counsels clients regarding insurance underwriting and new product development. As an insurance industry leader, Jim also serves as an expert witness in litigation on professional liability coverage issues.

Career

Jim regularly speaks at legal conferences, seminars and in-house client training programs on D&O and related professional liability insurance. Jim is very active in and has held many leadership roles with the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS), and was the 2021 recipient of the PLUS 1 Award presented annually by PLUS to a person whose efforts have contributed substantially to the advancement and image of the professional liability industry.

Jim has also served as a mentor to members of The Bridge Transcends, an inclusive not-for-profit networking organization that supports the development of female talent in Financial Lines insurance and reinsurance. The leadership and support teams include men and women from across the insurance industry.

Professional Memberships

Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS): Co-Chair of the Annual PLUS D&O Symposium, 2001-2004; Trustee, 2012-2018; Secretary–Treasurer, 2012-2013; President-Elect, 2014; President, 2015; Immediate Past President, 2016; and Member of the Conference Committee, 2017-2023

American Bar Association, Litigation, Tort Trial and Insurance and Business Law Sections

Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Former member of the Insurance Committee and Chair of the Subcommittee on Director and Officer and Professional Liability

Education