Peter Jon Biging

Peter J. Biging is an accomplished trial and appellate attorney with more than 30 years of experience as a litigator in the state and federal courts of New York. As vice chair of the firm's nationwide Management and Professional Liability Practice Group, Peter counsels and defends directors and officers against claims alleging fraud, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duties, and a variety of professionals against claims based on alleged errors and omissions (E&O) in the performance of their professional services. He also regularly litigates labor and employment practices liability claims, commercial disputes, and municipal liability claims premised on alleged civil and constitutional violations.

Peter's D&O work involves the defense of both for-profit and not-for-profit companies and their executives, and E&O work includes defending insurance agents and brokers, securities brokers, lawyers, and a wide range of other miscellaneous professionals. Peter is regularly called upon to handle complex, high-stakes commercial litigation and claims involving allegations of gross negligence, fraud and malfeasance, harassment and discrimination, as well as litigation of non-solicitation/non-compete disputes. Throughout the course of his work in these areas, Peter has been repeatedly honored as a New York Metro area Super Lawyer.

A recognized thought leader in the area of D&O and E&O risks and litigation, Peter is the current chair of the American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) and Professional Liability Insurance Committee, and is the immediate past chair of the Professional Liability Defense Federation's Insurance Agent/Broker Claims Committee. As of October 2018, he has been tapped to servce as a member of the Professional Liability Defense Federation's Board of Directors.

Representative Matters
Dismissal of the First Amendment claims of a high school art teacher disciplined for a classroom speech soliciting student participation in a planned art school involving nude models (affirmed by the Second Circuit)
Dismissal (and affirmance by the NY Appellate Division, First Department) of legal malpractice claims against a law firm for allegedly making a disastrous “tactical” decision contrary to the client’s wishes
Dismissal of a First Amendment claim arising from disciplining of an elementary school student for writing a story about murder and sex involving other students (affirmed by the Second Circuit)
Dismissal of fraud, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claims, and other claims asserted in a suit alleging a scheme to defraud involving complicated fraudulent financing of real estate ventures, resulting in actual damages alleged to exceed $40 million
Dismissal of claims against a social services agency for violation of due process in connection with the removal of children from foster parents (affirmed by the Second Circuit)
Dismissal of a Section 1983 claim for regulatory taking and defamation in connection with a town's issuance of notices of hearings for engaging in regulated activity on wetlands without a permit
Decision (noted on the cover of the New York Law Journal) finding that it was the duty of an insurer to defend breach of fiduciary duty claims made against a law firm on the part of a legal malpractice insurer, despite the fact that only fraudulent conduct was specifically alleged
Dismissal of wrongful death claims (affirmed by the NY Appellate Division, Second Department) against a municipality for allegedly failing to protect two young women who had been walking on railroad tracks from an oncoming train because a police officer who had allegedly directed them into harm’s way had not assumed a “special duty” to protect them
Summary judgment award voiding over $200 million in reinsurance due to the fraudulent concealment of a cedent’s insolvency (affirmed by the New York Court of Appeals)
Decision upholding the standing of a parent corporation to assert RICO claims for injuries to diminution in value of stock caused by racketeering activity directed at a subsidiary
Dismissal following trial of claims against an insurance broker for allegedly failing to procure insurance for a residential building despite receiving specific instructions to do so and an application, leaving owner uninsured for severe personal injury claims
Dismissal of a libel claim based upon a psychiatric evaluation report to an insurer as protected opinion (affirmed by the Appellate Division, First Department)
Dismissal of a libel claim based upon a court-ordered report on the mental status of a criminal defendant by a social worker as protected by quasijudicial proceeding immunity (affirmed by the Appellate Division, First Department)