Christopher B. Kende is resident in the New York Downtown office where he is a member of the firm and the Global Insurance Group and co-chair of the firm's Reinsurance practice group. Christopher focuses his practice on international insurance, reinsurance, aviation and marine matters. He joined the firm in 1996.
Christopher has more than 30 years of experience in handling major complex multinational litigation in the areas of insurance, reinsurance, environmental law, aviation and admiralty and maritime disputes. His experience includes virtually every aspect of pre-trial, trial and post-trial proceedings in state and federal courts around the country.
Christopher is a former member of the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association and is past president of the Maritime Law Committee of the New York County Lawyers Association and the Admiralty and Maritime Law Commission of the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA). Christopher is also past president of the Insurance Law Commission of the UIA and serves on the International Organizations, Conventions and Standards Committee of the Maritime Law Association of the United States. He is on the board of directors of the New York Chapter of the French American Chamber of Commerce.
Christopher has a combined B.A. and M.A. degree from Brown University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. He is fluent in French.
News
April 15, 2013
The French-American Chamber of Commerce - New York Chapter (FACC - NY) recently announced the election of its 2013 - 2015 Board of Directors and Advisory Board. Elected to serve for a 2-year term, the FACC - NY Board of Directors and the FACC - NY Advisory Board are each composed of senior executives from some the world's most renowned multinational firms, as well as from small- and medium-sized companies. Founded in 1896, the FACC is a bi-national non-profit association that is devoted exclusively to the development and improvement of economic, commercial and financial relations between the U.S. and France. The 20-chapter FACC national network includes offices in all major metropolitan U.S. cities, as well as over 4,000 members across a broad range of fields. The New York Chapter of the FACC includes 800 members.
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Publications
January 24, 2013
On January 15, 2013, the Supreme Court, in a majority decision with two justices dissenting, ruled that a so-called “floating home” which did not have self-propulsion and essentially consisted of a house-like plywood structure with French doors floating on an empty bilge space, did not come within the definition of a vessel under 1 U.S.C. § 3 and therefore was not subject to maritime law. Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, docket 11-626, 568 US ___ (1/15/2013).
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December 01, 2012
Published by LexisNexis
Notre chronique de droit américain des transports prévoit une brève explication du système américain, très différent d’un système juridique régi par le Code civil. Nous aborderons un certain nombre de points concernant les récents développements de la règlementation et de la jurisprudence en droitmaritime, droit aérien et droit terrestre des transports. Ces développements ne sont pas exhaustifs, nous avons donc essayé de commenter les arrêts ainsi que l’évolution de la réglementation qui pourraient intéresser les Européens.
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October 18, 2011
Court Issues Significant Ruling Regarding Personal Injury Claims in the Deepwater Horizon Litigation - Insurance Coverage Alert! - In a recent Alert, we advised of an important decision affecting maritime interests and their insurers in the multidistricted Deepwater Horizon litigation currently pending before Judge Barbier in federal court in New Orleans. (In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, MDL No. 2179.) On October 4, 2011, Judge Barbier rendered yet another significant decision, this time relating primarily to personal injury claims.
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September 20, 2011
MDL Judge in Deepwater Horizon Multidistrict Litigation Issues Major Ruling Construing the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA”) - Insurance Coverage Alert! - The allegations include claims under OPA and various state laws, including claims for negligence, gross negligence, strict liability, and punitive damages, as well as claims under the Florida Pollutant Discharge Prevention and Control Act, Fla. Stat. §§ 376.011,
et seq.
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May 26, 2011
Rhode Island Superior Court Approves First Commutation Plan for Solvent Reinsurer Under Rhode Island's Voluntary Restructuring of Solvent Insurers Act - Insurance Coverage Alert! - On April 25, 2011, the Rhode Island Superior Court, per Justice Silverstein, made history by approving the first solvent commutation plan under Rhode Island’s Voluntary Restructuring of Solvent Insurers Act (Restructuring Act), GL 1956 Section 27 – 14. 15 – 1, et seq.
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March 23, 2011
European Court of Justice Rules That Differential Rates Based on Gender are Discriminatory - Insurance Coverage Alert! - The European Court of Justice recently rendered a decision holding that insurers are no longer permitted to apply different insurance rates according to the gender of their insured.
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May 14, 2010
The Deepwater Horizon Catastrophe: A Factual Overview and Preliminary First-Party Analysis - Cozen O'Connor Whitepaper - By now you are no doubt aware of the disastrous explosions and fire at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, with its tragic loss of life, and the resulting spill of oil that now threatens to become a major environmental catastrophe. The Deepwater Horizon catastrophe has already given rise to a multitude of third party claims directly against the responsible parties. It will undoubtedly give rise to numerous claims by individuals and businesses under their own first
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February 21, 2010
Winter 2010 - Insurance Coverage Observer -
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April 01, 2009
Commentary: The Flight to Access - Risk & Insurance - With more and more frequency, possibly due to personnel cutbacks and more attention focused on legitimate security concerns,
courts are seeing actions brought by disabled
passengers alleging discrimination,
exacerbation of a physical injury, mental
anguish and distress, and even punitive
damages as a result of what has been
perceived as either the inability or
unwillingness to deal with the specific needs
of disabled passengers.
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January 29, 2009
Winter 2009 - Insurance Coverage Observer -
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January 01, 2009
Flying Through Squabbles of the Turbulent - Risk and Insurance Online -
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August 30, 2008
Summer 2008 - Insurance Coverage Observer -
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February 26, 2008
Insurance Coverage Observer - Winter 2008 - Fifth Circuit Upholds Flood Exclusion in Katrina
Decision….,… While Louisiana’s Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Finds the Flood Exclusion Ambiguous, Application of Faulty Workmanship Exclusion Does not Require Showing of Proximate Cause, Louisiana's Value Policy Law Does not Apply When Total Loss Does not Result From a Covered Peril,Payment Under Law or Ordinance Coverage Required Showing of Actual Loss Incurred,Ensuing Loss Clause Do not Provide
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November 14, 2007
The Santa Ana Wind-Driven 2007 Southern California Wildfires: A First-Party Factual and Legal Analysis of the Santa Ana Wind-Driven Wildfires - Cozen & O'Connor Whitepaper -
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