Peter Jason

Of Counsel - Retired

  • Peter Jason
  • Phone: +1 215 979 1174

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  • Duane Morris LLP
    30 South 17th Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19103-4196
    USA

Peter Jason practices in the areas of commercial litigation, life and disability insurance and defense litigation. His practice includes representation of life insurance companies in market conduct and sales practice cases, agent termination and employee benefit claims, and in the defense of traditional life, health and disability insurance policy claims, as well as the representation of employers, insurers and employee benefit plans in ERISA and related litigation. He also represents employers in employment discrimination and retaliation claims, wrongful discharge claims, and wage and hour litigation.

Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New York, he is a member of the ABA Section of Litigation and a member of the Life Insurance Law Committee and the Health and Disability Insurance and Employee Benefits Law committees of the Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association. He is also a member of the Association of Life Insurance Counsel and a member of the Life, Health and Disability Insurance Committee of the Defense Research Institute. He is a contributing author and contributing editor for the ABA publication Misrepresentation in the Life, Health and Disability Insurance Application Process: A National Survey.

Mr. Jason is a 1967 graduate of the University of North Carolina Law School and a graduate of the University of North Carolina.

Representative Matters

  • Wise v. American General Life Insurance, 459 F.3d 443(3rd Cir. 2006). Third Circuit affirmance of dismissal of plaintiff's claims was the first circuit court authority in "premium gap" litigation.
  • Lead counsel for principal defendants in a securities fraud and RICO action in federal court in the Northern District of New York.

  • Won dismissal of nine-count complaint against major disability insurer at the close of plaintiff's case in 10-day federal jury trial in the Southern District of New York.

  • Successful defense of insurers in numerous actions involving agents' claims that they were employees rather than independent contractors in New York and Pennsylvania state court and administrative proceedings.

  • Successful defense of major insurance company, with a jury verdict dismissing a bad faith claim in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Sampathachar vs. American General Life Insurance Company.
  • Nationwide defense of major life insurance companies in federal and state court cases, including claims relating to stranger-owned life insurance, accidental death issues, overseas death claims and others.

  • Successful defense of wrongful termination claims by life insurance agents in state and federal courts, including appellate affirmance of dismissal of all claims.

  • Representation of corporate employers, insurers and employee welfare benefit plans in ERISA litigation.

  • Defense of state and federal class actions in life, disability and excess major medical insurance cases.

Admissions

  • New York
  • Pennsylvania
  • Supreme Court of the United States
  • U.S. Tax Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
  • Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
  • Court of Appeals of the State of New York

Education

  • University of North Carolina Law School, J.D., 1967
  • University of North Carolina, B.S., 1964

Experience

  • Duane Morris LLP
    - Partner, 1998-present
  • Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    - Partner, 1993-1998
    - Of Counsel, 1989-1992
  • Rubin, Gross, Harris, Fischl & Roth, New York, New York
    - Partner, 1974-1989
    - Associate, 1967-1974

Professional Activities

  • Association of Life Insurance Counsel
  • American Bar Association
    -Section of Litigation
    - Tort and Insurance Practice Section
    -- Life Insurance Law Committee
    --- Vice Chair, 1999-2005
    --Employee Benefits Law Committee
    -- Health and Disability Insurance Law Committee
  • Defense Research Institute
    - Life, Health, Accident and Disability Insurance Committee

Honors and Awards

Civic and Charitable Activities

  • Past chairman of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club