Brian D. Burack

Obtained complete victory for the plaintiff insurance carrier with a finding (affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit) that the carrier was not obligated to pay the death benefit on a $5 million policy because it was stranger-originated life insurance (STOLI) lacking insurable interest that was void ab initio under Illinois law as an illegal human-life wager. The Seventh Circuit then ruled (reversing the District Court) that the insurer was entitled to keep all of the premiums received because the investor-owner of the policy (a sophisticated hedge fund) knew or should have known the policy was illegal. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 44 F.4th 1024 (7th Cir. 2022)

Obtained victory for the plaintiff insurance carrier, declaring two life insurance policies (with death benefits totaling $19 million) void ab initio human-life wagers under Delaware law. Sun Life Assur. Co. of Canada v. Wilmington Trust, N.A., 2022 WL 179008 (Del. Super. Ct. Jan. 12, 2022).

Represented the insurance carrier on appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court, resulting in an important precedent that investors caught holding policies lacking an insurable interest under Delaware law are not automatically entitled to a return of premium. The Delaware Supreme Court rejected the so-called "automatic" return of premium rule (which federal courts across the country had been applying for nearly 10 years) and instead held that investors seeking a return of premiums paid into a STOLI policy will be left where they are found (without a remedy) unless they can prove a viable legal theory and satisfy a fault-based analysis that focuses on knowledge of the STOLI scheme. Geronta Funding v. Brighthouse Life Ins. Co., --- A.3d ---, 2022 WL 3654872 (De. 2022) (en banc).

Secured complete dismissal of the defendant insurance company (at the pleadings phase) in a case alleging the insurer had improperly issued annuity payments and conspired to defraud the policy's alleged beneficiary.

Successfully represented an insurance company in opposing the illegal transfer of structured settlement payment rights arising out of a workers' compensation award under the Mississippi Structured Settlement Protection Act and, in a separate case, under the Nevada Structured Settlement Protection Act.