Roberta Anderson Sutton

Selected by the National Law Journal for inclusion as part its 2021 inaugural list of twenty-two nationwide Insurance Law Trailblazers, which honor recognizes and spotlights a select group of lawyers who have “made sweeping efforts to make a positive contribution” as “agents of change” in the insurance industry, Ms. Sutton is highly experienced and concentrates her practice in the areas of insurance recovery, risk management counseling, and emerging cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection-related issues, including incident planning and breach response, and management liability-related issues.

For over two decades, Ms. Sutton has successfully represented clients in connection with a broad spectrum of insurance claims and issues arising under almost every kind of business insurance policy, and has extensive experience in the selection, drafting, negotiation, and placement of Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection (Cyber), Directors & Officers (D&O), Management Liability, Errors and Omissions (E&O), and Technology E&O insurance coverage. Her experience includes all phases of coverage litigation through trial and appeal, and international arbitrations.

In addition to aggressively and successfully pursuing her clients' insurance recoveries in disputed insurance claims settings, and assisting clients in recovering hundreds of millions in insurance assets to date, Ms. Sutton counsels clients proactively on complex insurance placement and risk management issues. She advises clients in assessing their potential cybersecurity, privacy, and management liability risks, among myriad other forms of organizational risk, and in securing appropriate insurance to cover those risks. Ms. Sutton provides clients with strategic advice on how to best maximize the value of their current and historic insurance assets. She also has extensive experience conducting insurance due diligence and placing Representation and Warranty insurance in connection with mergers and acquisitions, and in drafting contractual risk transfer provisions, including insurance and indemnity clauses.

A recognized national authority in cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection, insurance recovery, and directors and risk management issues, Ms. Sutton frequently lectures on these subjects, including most recently serving as a featured speaker at RISKWORLD™, the RIMS 2022 annual conference and exhibition in San Francisco, and provides interviews to leading industry publications and mainstream publications, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. She currently serves as Vice-Chair for the American Bar Association's Tort and Insurance Practice Section Cybersecurity and Data Privacy General Committee.

She is delighted to have been selected to serve on Law360's 2022 Cybersecurity & Privacy Editorial Board and to have coauthored the cybersecurity guide for executives, Navigating the Digital Age: The Definitive Cybersecurity Guide For Directors and Officers.

Representative Experience

• Successfully served as lead insurance recovery counsel in connection with one of the largest retail data breaches to date.
• Successfully served as lead insurance recovery counsel on behalf of one of the four largest U.S. bank holding companies in pursuing recovery under its financial institution bonds/fidelity insurance policies in connection with a substantial employee theft loss.
• Successfully represented a worldwide oil and gas exploration and production company in a case regarding recovery under Bermuda Form policies for class action litigation alleging Hurricane Katrina-related property damage.
• Successfully served as lead trial counsel in a precedent-setting victory on behalf of the insured in a landmark decision concerning CGL insurance coverage for losses caused by a mechanical equipment failure.
• Successfully represented one of the largest U.S. diversified financial institutions regarding recovery under its vehicle residual value insurance policy; the case settled favorably on the eve of trial for a mid-nine figure recovery.
• Successfully represented a group self-insurance fund policyholder regarding recovery under its crime/fiduciary policy in connection with a substantial employee theft loss. Placement of cybersecurity, data privacy and Management Liability/D&O insurance for:
  • Largest global telecommunications company
  • Fourth-largest media conglomerate
  • Largest private operator of health care facilities
  • Second-largest food and beverage company
  • Third-largest producer of aluminum
  • Fourth-largest chemical company
  • World-class private research university
  • Largest third-party payment processor for issuing banks in North America
  • One of the five largest U.S. banks
  • Fortune 500 multinational financial services corporations
  • Fortune 500 retailers
  • Second-largest electricity generator in New Zealand
  • Cloud-based technology companies
  • Multibillion-dollar freight transportation and logistics company