GEORGE V. PILAT

AREAS OF PRACTICE

• Business & Commercial Law
• Directors & Officers Liability
• Employment & Labor Law
• Insurance Agents & Brokers
• Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith
• Professional Liability & Licensing

Mr. Pilat focuses his practice on business and commercial law, and insurance defense. He is a Co-Chair of the firm’s newly expanded Business & Commercial Law and Insurance Agents & Brokers practice groups. His experience and unique blend of skills includes significant work handling agent errors & omissions (E&O) coverage and litigation, coverage analysis, corporate compliance, commercial transactions, and employment litigation and counseling. He represents national and regional insurance agencies, agents/brokers, and Fortune 500 clients in both state and federal courts.

In addition to insurance coverage, George also has considerable experience with business matters concerning buy-sell agreements, mergers, sales, and acquisitions of agencies, drafting purchase agreements, rights of first refusal and account ownership agreements, producer/solicitor agreements, non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements, separation of partners, agents, and clusters, disputes with captive carriers and producers, evaluating and preparing agency procedure and employment manuals, and advising on compliance issues under state insurance law.

He has also been very active with the Insurance Board of Northern Ohio (IBNO) since its inception in 2001. His involvement has included serving as local counsel, project management on both local Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter’s (CPCU) and Northeast Ohio Health Underwriters Association’s (NEOHUA) annual conventions, and worked alongside the Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) national office analyzing and reporting on Ohio’s E&O claims activity where he consulted on issues for member agents.

Prior to joining MRR in 2013, George handled insurance matters for agents and insurers, commercial litigation, and business transactions at a smaller firm in Downtown Cleveland.

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

• Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
• Cuyahoga County Bar Association
  • Insurance Law Committee
• Insurance Board of Northern Ohio (IBNO)
  • I-Day Committee Member
• Cleveland Academy of Trial Attorneys
• Solon Chamber of Commerce

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Selected as a Best Lawyer in America for Insurance law (2018)
• BV® Distinguished™ rating from Martindale-Hubbell Directory
• Friend of the Insurance Industry” – Insurance Board of Northern Ohio (2013)

PRESENTATIONS

• “Trends in Agent E&O Cases” – Cuyahoga County Insurance Board (2000)
• “Trends in Agent E&O Cases – 2003 Update” – Insurance Board of Northern Ohio (2003)
• Executive Roundtable – Panelist, Insurance Board of Northern Ohio’s Cleveland I-Day Convention (2005)
• “Legal Issues for Claims Representatives” – Cleveland Claims Association (2005)
• Annual “Education Day” of the Cleveland Chapter of CPCU Society (2005)
• Annual Convention of the Northeast Ohio Health Underwriters Association (2006)
• Annual “Education Day” of the Cleveland Chapter of CPCU Society, Panelist (2006)
• Mock Trial on insurance agent E&O claim – Insurance Board of Northern Ohio’s Cleveland I-Day Convention (2007)
• Is Your Agency Responsible” – Insurance Board of Northern Ohio (2008)
• E&O Traps, or Marketing Opportunities, or Both?” – Erie Insurance Co. Agents (2011)
• “Buying and Selling Agencies 101” – Insurance Board of Northern Ohio (2012)
• “Agent/Broker Liability” – Anatomy of a Complex Professional Liability Claim, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (2013)
• “Winning Strategies for Coverage Litigation” – Panelist, Anatomy of a Complex Professional Liability Claim, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (2013)

BAR ADMISSIONS

•  Ohio
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
• Pro Hac Vice admission to U.S. District Courts in California, Delaware, Florida, Michigan, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin

 EDUCATION

•  J.D., 1987, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
• B.A., 1984, Ohio Wesleyan University