Ty:
Hope this finds you well. Thanks again for your excellent report. I am attaching the expert witness designation of our co-defendants’ for your review. Please let me know if these have any bearing on your opinions. They agree with you, so I doubt they will.
Thanks in advance,
Named Partner
Mississippi Law Firm
Darwin’s expert, Ty R. Sagalow, is qualified under Rule 702 by way of his experience and education. Mr. Sagalow has over 30 years’ experience as an insurance executive, and has served as both chief underwriting officer and general counsel at one of the world’s largest insurance companies. His diverse professional experience at a variety of companies in the insurance industry demonstrates a breadth of experience drafting and interpreting policies, making underwriting decisions, and claims handling….The Court concludes that Sagalow’s experience, training and education provided a sufficient foundation of reliability for his testimony. His specialized knowledge in the insurance field may be helpful to the trier of fact in understanding the evidence or determining facts in issue.
Millennium Laboratories, Inc. vs Darwin Insurance Select Insurance Company.
It is a true pleasure to recommend Ty Sagalow, who I have known professionally for more than a decade. Ty is an exceptional person and worker. Rarely in my 3 decades of business life have I found someone who combines his in depth knowledge of his subject area with his personal skills, his creative problem solving and his energy as completely as Ty does. An exceptional person and professional.
Ty, your CLE session today for our Jones, Day attorneys was extremely well received. Among the comments we got were:
- Great CLE- Immediately applicable information for any attorney (all 5s)
- Very knowledgeable presenter! (all 5s)
- Great Presentation! (all 5s)
IMS Expert Services
Note: Presentation available upon request.
I have known Ty Sagalow for 25 years both professionally and personally. He is, by far, the most knowledgeable and creative individual in the insurance industry on reputation risk and reputation insurance. He truly understands brand risk and crisis management and can, and has, taken that understanding to develop extraordinary brand and reputation insurance policies. He is one of a kind.
Ty,
Case Settled! And deal expanded into something even bigger for client! Your work was very helpful in bringing out this result.
Thank-you!
Named Partner
Mid-size East Coast Law Firm
The Federal District Court was asked to rule on reasonableness of the Mr. Sagalow’s fees. In a decision taking into consideration 5 factors (the witness’s area of expertise, education and training, prevailing rates for other comparable experts, nature and complexity of the responses, fees traditional charged by the expert on related matters and cost of living in particular geographic area), the Court held in favor of Mr. Sagalow’s fees ($700/hr), reasoning as follows:
[In this case, counsel representing the party seeking Mr. Sagalow’s expert deposition has argued] that Sagalow’s fees are “unreasonable” and that “Sagalow’s unreasonable fee schedule should be reduced to an amount consistent with the hourly rates charged by other expert witnesses designated in this case… and that his preparation time be limited to ½ of his deposition time”. For a fee to be reasonable, ‘there must be some reasonable relationship between the services rendered and the remuneration to which the expert is entitled.” (Decision at pages 1,2)
Applying the [5] factors in this case, the court notes that Mr. Sagalow is a graduate of Georgetown University and subsequently received an L.L.M from New York University School of Law. He also practices law and held numerous positions in the insurance industry, such as chief underwriter for two large insurance companies, as well as serving as general counsel for AIG Insurance and National Union Insurance Company.’ (Decision at page 3)
Having applied the factors to this matter, the court holds that Sagalow’s hourly rate is not unreasonable and [opposing party] shall compensate Sagalow at this rate, $700/hr, for the time he actually spends attending the deposition. Furthermore, the courts holds that [opposing party] shall also be liable for Sagalow’s preparation time, if any, provided that such time is reasonable.” (Decision at page 4)
Though Sagalow’s hourly rate was found reasonable under the factors discussed, the court would point out that this is not a case where one party’s expert was billing the opposing part at an inflated rate. Rather [the party retaining Sagalow] has been paying Sagalow $700.00 hourly rate since he was first retained as an expert. Therefore, fairness dictates that [opposing party] should not be allowed to benefit from [retaining party’s] discovery at a discounted price.” (Decision at pages 4-5)
Note: Travel time was not an issue in this case.
For a copy of the full decision, click here.
David a. Sanders
United States District Court
Northern District of Mississippi
September 5, 2015
Ty
Just to let you know that last week, for the first time since the inception of this litigation, opposing counsel asked that I submit a demand for settlement…its timing immediately following your deposition is not lost on me!
Thanks!!!
Named Partner
Mississippi Mid-sized Law Firm
