Robert Shulman

For 35 years, Robert has specialized in insurance recovery on behalf of policyholders. As Chair of the Insurance Recovery group and a member of the firm’s Litigation practice, Robert litigates complex disputes against insurance companies on behalf of corporations seeking coverage for all manner of claims involving every form of risk and exposure such as those arising out of products, securities, directors & officers, energy, automotive, financial institutions, medical devices and health, among others.
Robert has successfully argued precedent-setting appeals in the second, third, and fourth U.S. Courts of Appeals, as well as the California Court of Appeal, San Francisco Division. Among other noteworthy representations, in MBIA, Inc. v Federal Ins. Co., 652 Fed. 3rd 152 (2nd Cir. 2011), Robert obtained a sweeping first impression decision requiring insurance companies to pay defense costs from the initiation of government investigations before suit was filed. This decision allowed companies to access vast amounts of insurance that routinely are contested by the insurance industry. The MBIA decision also granted coverage for Special Litigation Counsel, a cost incurred in the defense of derivative actions that insurance companies also regularly contest. Robert also led a team on behalf of International Paper Company through a series of trials, mediations and arbitrations that recouped nearly $1 billion in costs including damages, class counsel fees, notice programs and administrative costs. Robert’s team also achieved a $90mm verdict against the primary insurance company that failed to defend International Paper in bad faith. The International Paper Company underlying litigation began as a potentially ruinous last of its kind “drive-by” class certification in which Robert initially led a court-mandated mediation that settled the dispute prior to the resolution of the coverage litigation.
Robert’s practice is national and international in scope.

• Commercial Litigation & Trial
• Global Litigation
• Insurance Recovery
• International Arbitration & ADR

District of Columbia

District of Columbia Bar

Since 1980

Louisiana

Since 1980

New York

U.S. Supreme Court

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

United States District Court for the District of Columbia

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana

Principal

Paley Rothman

2018 - Current

Partner

Howrey LLP

2011

Tulane University School of Law

J.D. (1979)

1979

cum laude

Honors: cum laude

Cornell University

B.A

1975

Best Lawyers in America (2006-2018)

Best Lawyers

2018

Previously ranked nationwide and in New York in Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Policyholder

Chambers USA

One of America's Leading Business Lawyers in Insurance Recovery

Who's Who Legal

District of Columbia Bar

Member

1980 - Current