Wilkins, Cara

Robert A. Whitney is counsel in the Commercial Litigation Department and a member of the Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Practice Group.  He has over 20 years of experience in complex insurance coverage, reinsurance, bad faith, and commercial litigation. Mr. Whitney's practice includes litigating insurance coverage actions in both state and federal courts.  He also has extensive experience in negotiating the resolution of disputed coverage claims and has counseled insurance company clients on claims litigation strategy, claims resolution procedures, and coverage questions.  Mr. Whitney has also represented ceding companies and reinsurers in reinsurance litigation and arbitration, in disputes involving a variety of claims, including asbestos exposure, environmental pollution, toxic torts and bad faith. 

Mr. Whitney's practice also has included general commercial litigation, contract negotiation, drafting and interpretation, labor and employment law, products liability law, and disability discrimination law.  He also has advised corporate clients concerning employment practices, compliance with federal and state employment laws, and employee relations, and provided counsel to clients concerning employee retention and termination procedures.

Mr. Whitney received his A.B. degree with honors from Brown University in 1981 and his J.D. degree in 1984, from Boston University School of Law, where he was a G. Joseph Tauro Scholar.  Prior to coming to White and Williams LLP, he served as Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Harold Baker, District Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, was a partner in the Boston office of the law firm Holland & Knight LLP, and most recently was Assistant Vice-President and Associate General Counsel at Resolute Management, Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group company.  He was also the Corporate Secretary for the Stonewall Insurance Company and Seaton Insurance Company and was also on the Board of Directors of the Transport Insurance Company.  Mr. Whitney is licensed to practice in Massachusetts, and is admitted to appear before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the United States District Courts for Massachusetts and the Central District of Illinois.  He is the Co-Chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Section of the Boston Bar Association and is a member of ARIAS-US.

Mr. Whitney is the author of a law review article entitled, "Environmental Contamination and the Application of the Owned Property Exclusion to Insurance Coverage Claims: Can the Threat of Harm to the Property of Others Ever Get Real," Northern Kentucky Law Review, Vol. 27, No. 3, Environmental Law Issue, Summer 2000.  He is also one of the editors of the Massachusetts Liability Insurance Manual, (2000; Revised Eds. 2004 and 2008), published by the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE), and is the author of the manual's chapter entitled, "Insurance Coverage for Employment-Related Practices."  Mr. Whitney's other articles and case comments have appeared in Mealey's Litigation Reports - Insurance, and in publications of the MCLE organization and the ABA Tort and Insurance Practice Section.  He has appeared as a speaker at seminars sponsored by LexisNexis, Mealey's Publishing, MCLE and Ecology and Environment, Inc.

Mr. Whitney's community involvement includes being President of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Disability Law Center, a non-profit legal group that advocates on behalf of disabled individuals in Massachusetts, as well as his appointment by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to the Suffolk University Community Task Force.