Biography

Richard J. Geddes practices primarily in the areas of Insurance and Reinsurance counseling, litigation and arbitration and policy drafting.  He has served as co-chair of the firm’s International Counseling and Arbitration Practice Group, and the Property and Casualty Insurance Practice Group. He has extensive experience in dispute resolution, coverage analysis, policy drafting, and claims management involving a wide variety of coverages and catastrophic claims.

Mr. Geddes has counseled insurers, reinsurers and brokers in connection with mass tort and industry-wide product liability exposures. He also represents them in litigation and arbitrations arising out of catastrophic and serial loss situations, and complex and multi-party coverage disputes. Mr. Geddes has frequently lectured insurance industry groups in the U.S., England and Europe about current developments in U.S. product liability law, punitive damages, and Bermuda policy form coverages. He is coauthor of “The Bermuda Form: Interpretation and Dispute Resolution of Excess Liability Insurance,” published by Oxford University Press, in 2011.

Clients

Mr. Geddes’ clients include major U.S., U.K., European and Bermuda-based Insurers and Reinsurers. 

Memberships & Honors

Mr. Geddes is admitted to practice in Illinois (1974) and before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1976) and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1976).

He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the American Arbitration Association (Arbitrator, Commercial Panel), the London Court of International Arbitration, and ARIAS (US). Mr. Geddes was selected as an Illinois Leading Lawyer and Illinois Super Lawyer in each year beginning in 2006 and is listed in the International Chamber of Commerce United Kingdom Guide to the World’s Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers.  

Professional Career 

1974-77 Assistant Defender, Illinois State Appellate Defender, Springfield, Illinois and Chicago, Illinois

1977-80 Associate Attorney, Peterson Ross Schloerb & Seidel. Chicago

1980-87 Partner, Peterson Ross Schloerb & Seidel, Chicago

1987-96 Founding Partner, McCullough Campbell & Lane. Chicago

1996-Present Partner, Sedgwick, LLP, Chicago Illinois

Lecutures

Since 1996, Mr. Geddes has been a frequent presenter to policyholder, insurer and broker groups on U.S tort law, product liability developments, and Bermuda policy form interpretation. He has presented to clients and industry groups in Bermuda, New York, Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Copenhagen, Zurich and Amsterdam.

Representative Confdential Arbitrations

• London arbitration of Bermuda form dispute between major multinational agrichem company and Bermuda excess insurer over number of occurrences in multi-year crop damage cases.
• London arbitrations of Bermuda form dispute between U.S. automaker and Bermuda excess insurer over policy form meaning of expectation or intent / maintenance deductible issues concerning vehicle rollover propensity
• London arbitration of Bermuda form coverage dispute between U.S. automaker and Bermuda insurer regarding injuries due to restraint systems defects.
• London arbitration of Bermuda form dispute between large multinational building material manufacturer and Bermuda excess insurer concerning expectation, intention, non disclosure questions in respect of mass building products losses.
• Bermuda arbitration of Bermuda form dispute between multinational pharmaceutical company and Bermuda excess insurer over expectation and intent questions in respect of sales of contraceptive drug.
• London arbitration between Bermuda insurer and U.S-based rubber product manufacturer regarding Bermuda form coverage for defective building material claims.