Spenser A. Swaczyk

Spenser advises insurance companies on a broad range of coverage and bad faith issues arising under a variety of policies, including energy, first-party property, marine, cyber, Bermuda form, general liability, excess liability, construction, and reinsurance. He has successfully represented both U.S. and foreign insurers in litigation and arbitration involving high-value insurance coverage disputes, including matters related to property damage, cargo, war risk, business interruption, pollution, and product liability.

Spenser has also advised insurance companies on U.S. economic sanctions, including representing clients before the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). He has assisted clients with securing OFAC licensing, responding to enforcement actions, and seeking removal from sanctions lists.

Clients seek his guidance on complex issues and unique legal questions, often involving high-stakes coverage disputes with unsettled questions of law.

• Defended insurer clients in a New York federal jury trial and a Second Circuit appeal concerning a $65 million claim for oil seized by the Venezuelan government.
• Represented an insurer client in a case involving the denial of a claim for stolen PPE products, negotiating a favorable early resolution of the lawsuit.
• Represented a London Market insurer in a New York declaratory judgment action aimed at enforcing a contractual provision barring coverage for punitive damages.
• Advised onshore renewable energy underwriters on claims for property damage and business interruption losses resulting from wind turbine failures and solar farm outages.
• Obtained summary judgment for a London Market insurer client in a coverage dispute regarding seized counterfeit K-95 masks. The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division affirmed the decision on appeal.
• Provided advice to a U.S.-based insurer on a $12 million dispute related to damaged iron ore pellets.