Final Joint Pretrial Order - Reinsurance Focus

This matter is before the Court on a Final Pretrial Conference pursuant to
R.4:25-1. This Final Joint Pretrial Order shall govern the conduct of the trial in this case
and amendments will be allowed only in exceptional circumstances to prevent manifest
injustice.
I. APPEARANCES.
A. Plaintiff:
John E. Beerbower
B. Defendants:
Shand S. Stephens
II. STATEMENT OF THE NATURE OF THE ACTION.
Plaintiff’s Proposal
This is a dispute between plaintiff ReliaStar, a life insurance company that
bought reinsurance from a group of reinsurers, and defendants Aon Re, and its employee,
Roger Smith, who were intermediaries dealing with the reinsurers on ReliaStar’s behalf.
Defendants arranged and managed the reinsurance on which ReliaStar relied. As the
amount of business increased, the companies that were providing reinsurance to ReliaStar
began to complain to defendants that there was more business being written than they had
agreed or were willing to accept. These companies even threatened to seek to terminate
coverage if the writing of more business did not stop. The money defendants made in
commissions, however, depended upon the amount of business that was written. Thus,
although defendants recognized the risk posed to ReliaStar, they actively sought to
increase further the amount of business being written and did not tell plaintiff about these
complaints or threats.