In June 2018, Rivero Mestre sued Centene Corporation, Inc. (Centene), for failing to provide members of the class with the cure that would save their lives—Harvoni. Centene—the largest health insurer in the multistate marketplace for individual health insurance policies created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—had set up pretextual guidelines that resulted in the denial of Harvoni coverage for patients suffering from the most acute cases of hepatitis C. In addition to the $141 million of insurance coverage, the settlement also provides a fund to pay for insurance coverage for a subset of persons no longer insured by Centene so that they can obtain the treatment they need.

“The settlement is an outstanding achievement that will literally save lives,” said Rivero Mestre partner Charlie Whorton. “We are proud of the hard and creative work our team did to achieve this result.”

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Super Lawyers honors attorneys who have obtained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement within their practice area. The Rising Stars list is comprised of attorneys who are 40 years old or younger and have been in practice for ten years or less. Only up to five percent of lawyers in the state of Florida can be recognized as Super Lawyers, while less than three percent are named Rising Stars. Both Super Lawyers and Rising Stars are selected based on a patented selection process, which includes nominations by clients or firm, extensive research on the candidates and peer reviews.

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MSP Recovery Claims is represented by Andrés Rivero, Jorge A. Mestre, Alan H. Rolnick, Charles Whorton and David DaPonte.

The post Law360 Discusses Rivero Mestre’s Lawsuit Against Gilead Sciences appeared first on RIVERO MESTRE LLP | Miami + New York Attorneys | International Law | Commercial Litigation.

The FDA has issued one of the largest Class I recalls in history as almost half of the Valsartan currently being sold in the United States contains an impurity that is classified as a human carcinogen. Andrés Rivero, Jorge A. Mestre, Alan H. Rolnick, and Charlie Whorton of Rivero Mestre along with their co-counsel, MSP Recovery Law Firm, seek relief for a putative class of insurers and consumers who were unlawfully induced to pay for adulterated and dangerous Valsartan.

About Rivero Mestre LLP

Rivero Mestre, with offices in Miami and New York, represents clients from investigation to verdict and appeal in complex business disputes in U.S. federal courts, state courts, and domestic and international arbitration proceedings. The firm’s practice focuses primarily on representing corporate and institutional clients in a broad range of complex commercial disputes including financial institution matters, intellectual property disputes, and litigation and arbitration relating to Latin American trade and investment.

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Super Lawyers honors attorneys who have obtained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement within their practice area. The Rising Stars list is comprised of attorneys who are 40 years old or younger and have been in practice for ten years or less. Only up to five percent of lawyers in the state of Florida can be recognized as Super Lawyers, while less than three percent are named Rising Stars. Both Super Lawyers and Rising Stars are selected based on a patented selection process, which includes nominations by clients or firm, extensive research on the candidates and peer reviews.

Rivero is a commercial litigator with substantial experience in representing corporations and entrepreneurs in intellectual property disputes, antitrust and securities claims, and partnership and shareholder controversies. Along with many other members of the firm, Rivero is fluent in Spanish, and has conducted litigations and arbitrations, including winning an arbitration trial in Mexico, in Spanish.

A seasoned practitioner, Mestre focuses his practice on commercial litigation, including international arbitration and litigation. He has litigated cases through trial in both federal district court and Florida state court and has handled appeals before numerous state and federal courts. Mestre has litigated domestic and international arbitration matters in both English and Spanish, including an arbitration victory in Spanish.

Aguila focuses on complex commercial litigation, including banking, securities, real estate, international, and appellate litigation. She represents foreign and domestic clients in various industries throughout the United States and Latin America in a wide range of federal, state and international litigation and arbitration matters involving business torts, contractual disputes and partnership dissolutions.

Whorton’s practice focuses on all aspects of commercial litigation. His focus has been on financial services litigation and securities litigation, in both federal and state courts, representing domestic and international clients.

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In May 2015, Rivero Mestre filed two class actions against Florida Blue on behalf of people with employer-sponsored plans and non-employer sponsored plans. The lawsuits alleged that Florida Blue was unlawfully rationing a cure by imposing certain coverage requirements on people suffering from hepatitis C, whose livers had not yet developed advanced or severe stages of liver fibrosis. A year later, Rivero Mestre obtained a landmark settlement under which Florida Blue has agreed to remove the contested coverage requirements, paving the way for at least 2,000 people suffering from hepatitis C to now receive a cure to a previously incurable, potentially life-threating disease. The settlement provides at least $126 million dollars’ worth of relief to the settlement class and has far-reaching implications for people suffering from hepatitis C all across the United States.

Click here to view the full article.

The suit was also discussed in:

Bloomberg BNA

Law360

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M. Paula Aguila and Charles E. Whorton have also been selected to the 2016 Florida Rising Stars list. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. The 2016 Florida Rising Stars list will be published in the Super Lawyers Magazine and in the Miami Herald.

Super Lawyers recognizes attorneys who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a statewide survey of lawyers, independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. Both Rivero and Mestre have been recognized by Super Lawyers since 2009.

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The Rising Stars program recognizes South Florida’s most promising lawyers who have wielded influence in their practice areas and community. Whorton will receive the award at the event honoring Lifetime Achievement Awards, Attorney of the Year finalists and the Rising Stars on May 19th at the Coral Gables Country Club.

Whorton’s practice focuses on all aspects of commercial litigation. His focus has been on financial services litigation and securities litigation, in both federal and state courts, representing domestic and international clients. He obtained the first decision in the failed baking crises relating to the “insured v. insured” exclusion.

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A federal judge in Puerto Rico has ruled that an “insured vs. insured” exclusion in the D&O insurance policy of the failed Westernbank does not bar coverage for government regulators’ charges that its former directors’ reckless loan practices led to its collapse.

• Holding Co. et al. v. AIG Insurance Co. et al., No. 11-2271, 2014 WL 3378671 (D.P.R. July 9, 2014). The ruling by U.S. District Judge Gustavo A. Gelpi of the District of Puerto Rico appeared to be a double setback for the insurers that wrote D&O policies for W Holding Co., parent of the now-defunct Westernbank Puerto Rico, one of many banks taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. after the 2008 financial crisis.

. . . .

In response to AIG’s argument that in the final analysis, the FDIC “stands in the shoes of” the owner, Judge Gelpi wrote, “The FDIC is not suing on behalf of an ‘insured’ or an ‘organization.’ It thus does not run afoul of the exclusion.”

Click here to see full article

Click here to see the D&Os’ motion to clarify the court’s advancement order, the reply in support of the motion to clarify, the response to AIG’s motion for summary judgment relating to the insured v. insured exclusion and the order.

The directors and officers are represented by Andrés Rivero, Jorge A. Mestre, Alan H. Rolnick, Charlie Whorton, and M. Paula Aguila.

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A Puerto Rico federal judge on Wednesday rejected insurers’ attempts to apply an insured v. insured exclusion to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s claims seeking $176 million from former executives of Westernbank Puerto Rico, while expanding coverage in a policy year the insurers argued was out of reach.

U.S. District Judge Gustavo Gelpi sided against American International Group Inc. and other insurers on summary judgment motions in a coverage battle stemming from the FDIC’s litigation seeking damages from Westernbank’s former directors and officers after the agency took over as the bank’s receiver.

AIG argued that the FDIC had stepped into the shoes of the bank when bringing these claims, and thus, an exclusion for claims from one insured — the bank — against another insured — the directors and officers — applied. But Judge Gelpi said there was a question of fact as to whether the FDIC was representing depositors and account holders after seeing its depositors’ insurance fund depleted by more than $3.3 billion.

“The court does not accept AIG’s argument that the FDIC fails to specify who or what it represents and that such failure merits summary judgment,” Judge Gelpi said.

Click here to see the full article.

Click here to see the D&Os’ motion to clarify the court’s advancement order, the reply in support of the motion to clarify, the response to AIG’s motion for summary judgment relating to the insured v. insured exclusion and the order.

The directors and officers are represented by Andrés Rivero, Jorge A. Mestre, Alan H. Rolnick, Charlie E. Whorton, and M. Paula Aguila.

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