Palisade Insurance Partners LLC, an independently operated specialty managing general underwriter (MGU), has launched to provide a range of contingent legal risk insurance and other specialty insurance products across the U.S. and international markets.

Headquartered in New York, Palisade specializes in underwriting litigation-related insurance, transaction liability and other contingent risks, including contingent legal risk insurance, rep & warranty (RWI) and other specialty lines.

Palisade seeks to meet the growing demand for specialized insurance capacity across the legal spectrum, including from corporate clients, law firms, asset management funds, specialty finance vehicles and litigation finance firms. The MGU will work on both the plaintiff and defendant sides of litigation, and its products will be designed to address risks relating to both legal assets and legal liabilities.

The company said it is actively building its team of underwriting professionals and intends to begin offering products in the second half of 2022.

Palisade is led by President John McNally, an industry veteran who most recently led NFP’s Merger & Acquisition Risk Solutions Group focused on transaction insurance. Earlier in his career, McNally led the Transaction Insurance practice at JLT Specialty USA and has held senior underwriting roles at AIG and Beazley Group in New York and London.

“The needs of corporate clients, asset managers and others for insurance solutions to mitigate and manage contingent legal risks has outgrown available market capacity considerably,” McNally said in a statement. “For context, the global litigation finance market is estimated at a nearly $12 billion annual industry, with significant year-over-year growth, while the global legal services industry is expected to exceed $1 trillion in fee revenue by 2022. This significant momentum in other areas of legal services and legal risk management has far outpaced the development of the insurance market in this area, creating a strong demand for insurance capacity covering these risks and a dedicated platform with the expertise to underwrite them.”

Source: Palisade Insurance Partners