Mary Beth Forshaw is a Partner in the Firm’s Litigation Department.  She has extensive experience representing clients in general commercial litigation and arbitration, including in matters relating to bankruptcy, insurance coverage, reinsurance, international arbitration and the financial industry.

Ms. Forshaw’s recent experience includes representation of Hanwha Group and ORIX Corporation in a billion dollar ICC arbitration arising out of the sale of Korea Life Insurance Company, representation of a domestic insurer in a three-month trial before a New Jersey state court relating to allocation and settlement issues, and representation of a foreign insurer in a several-week arbitration concerning automobile residual value accounting issues.  Ms. Forshaw also successfully represented a client in a multi-billion dollar arbitration in which her client was found to have no obligation to provide non-products coverage to an insulation installer.  In addition to her trial and arbitration achievements, Ms. Forshaw recently obtained an award of summary judgment in her client’s favor on statute of limitations grounds in a lawsuit involving an automotive company’s claims for defense and indemnification for several decades of asbestos and environmental losses.  She has also represented debtors and creditors in bankruptcy proceedings, including In re ACandS (297 B.R. 395), in which her client defeated confirmation of a Plan of Reorganization. She has acted as counsel to various banks and financial institutions in actions involving allegations of fraudulent conveyance and securities fraud. She has also represented ceding insurers in several precedent-setting cases involving reinsurance, including Cigna Re (52 F.2d 1994) and Unigard (79 N.Y.2d 576; 4 F.3d 1049). 

Ms. Forshaw has been named in The Best Lawyers in America, Legal 500, New York Super Lawyers and Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers.

Ms. Forshaw received her B.A., magna cum laude, in 1984 from Barnard College, Columbia University, where she was elected Phi Beta Kappa.  She received her J.D. in 1989 from Yale Law School, where she was a member of the Yale Law & Policy Review and Director of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Project.  Ms. Forshaw is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and the Bar Association of the City of New York.  She sits on the Board of Directors of the Legal Action Center and has served on the Barnard College President’s Advisory Council. 

Publications

•	The Supreme Court Considers Whether Class Arbitration is Permitted When the Arbitration Clause is Silent on the Issue
•	Insurers Take Notice: The Changing Landscape of Global Warming Tort Actions
•	Three Federal Courts Issue Back-to-Back Decisions Addressing the Viability of Global Warming Tort Actions
•	Corban v. USAA: Reinterpreting the Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause
•	The Supreme Court Allows Non-Signatories to Arbitration Agreements to Seek to Stay Claims under the Federal Arbitration Act
•	The Supreme Court Adopts Broader View of Federal Jurisdiction to Hear Motions to Compel Arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act
•	The Supreme Court Hears Argument Concerning the Ability of Non-Signatories to Arbitration Agreements to Stay Claims under the Federal Arbitration Act
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Extent of Federal Subject Matter Jurisdiction Under the FAA
•	Developments In New York Insurance Law: New York Joins States That Require Prejudice To Insurers For Disclaimer of Coverage Based on Late Notice; Allows Direct Actions Against Insurers
•	MDL Capital Management, Inc. v. Federal Insurance Company: Third Circuit Decision Highlights Significance of Professional Services Exclusion in D&O Insurance Policy
•	The Supreme Court Rules Against TV’s “Judge Alex,” Finding That an Agreement to Arbitrate Trumps State Administrative Process
•	Supreme Court Hears Argument in its Second Significant Arbitration Case this Term
•	Safeco Insurance Co. of America v. Burr: U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies Standard of Liability Under Fair Credit Reporting Act
•	Continental Casualty Company v. Employers Insurance Company of Wausau: New York Court Decides Significant Asbestos Coverage Issues Against Insurer
•	Global Warming Litigation and Insurance Coverage: Emerging Issues
•	Is Your D&O Policy What It Should Be?
•	Lost Policy Chapter, Insurance Coverage Litigation, West Publishing
•	Getting Maximum Protection From Your D&O Insurance
•	A Look at Directors and Officers Insurance Post-Enron
•	Landmark New York Court of Appeals Decision Limits Scope of Duty of Care in Negligence Actions and Application of Market Share Theory
•	Insurance Chapter, General Practice in New York (co-author), West Publishing
•	Modern Reinsurance Law and Practice (Contributor), Glasser LegalWorks

Speaking Engagements

•	Mary Beth Forshaw to Chair and David J. Woll to Speak at HarrisMartin's Drywall Insurance Conference September 11, 2009
•	Andrew Amer, Mary Beth Forshaw and George Wang Offer Reinsurance Training Course June 18, 2008

Admissions

•	Connecticut 1989
•	New York 1990
•	U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York 1990
•	U.S. District Court Southern District of New York 1990
•	U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit 1998
•	U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit
•	U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit 1998
•	U.S. Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit 1998
•	U.S. Court of Appeals, DC Circuit 1997

Education

•	Yale Law School, 1989 J.D. Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Project, Director; Yale Law & Policy Review (1986-1987)
•	Barnard College, Columbia University, 1984 B.A. magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa