Background
Robert Suomala wrote about
directors and officers liability
insurance law for IRMI.com.
Mr. Suomala has specialized in professional liability and directors and officers
(D&O) liability insurance for more than 20 years and has handled many of the
most significant cases in those areas. He has extensive appellate experience
and has argued major cases in several federal appeals courts and the Supreme
Courts of Illinois, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Mr. Suomala also has designed complex insurance programs and specific sophisticated
insurance products, including insurance coverages for insurance companies, mutual
funds and investment advisers, and other financial professionals, employment
practices liability, professional liability umbrella coverages, and specialized
D&O liability coverages. He has worked extensively with Asian (particularly
Japanese) insurers on risk management and consulting, product development, regulation,
defense of underlying litigation, and underwriting and claims handling issues.
A partner with Peterson & Ross since 1989, Mr. Suomala has written and spoken
frequently on D&O liability and professional liability and insurance issues,
including serving as chair of or speaking at programs of the American Bar Association,
the Watson Wyatt D&O Symposium, the Japanese International Business Law Institute,
and at seminars presented in Tokyo and Singapore. He also has served as Chair
of the American Bar Association's Subcommittees on Directors and Officers Liability
Insurance (1991-1998) and Errors and Omissions Liability Insurance Coverage
litigation (1990-1992), and currently serves as a vice-chair of the Committee
on Professional, Officers and Directors Liability. Mr. Suomala also is heavily
involved in the Professional Liability Underwriting Society, having assisted
in the preparation of the study materials for the Registered Professional Liability
Underwriting designation, and is a Contributing Author to the treatise,
Professional Liability
Insurance, published by IRMI. He is a frequent speaker and writer
on D&O-related topics.
Mr. Suomala received his bachelor's degree in English from the University
of Wisconsin, a master's degree in English Language from the University of Michigan,
and earned his law degree from Yale Law School in 1980.