The POWER 30: Jeanette M. Bazis

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Greene Espel PLLP

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia started a war that brought tragic loss to the country. It also brought a host of insurance claims for airplanes that were in the wrong place and now are not available to American and European owners or lessees. Claims are being asserted under “all risk” and “war risk” policies and the work has just started.

One such claim involves plaintiff Castlelake, a global private investment firm in Hennepin County where the lawsuit is venued and assigned to Judge Susan Robiner. The firm says it has lost 18 commercial aircraft leased to airlines operating in Russia. The lessees have refused to return the planes, saying they are prohibited by the Russian government from doing so.

Jeannette Bazis of Greene Espel is one of the attorneys for the defendants, a group of insurers. They provide “all risk” policies which cover loss or damage not caused by war. They also provide “war risk” policies. Castlelake seeks $367 million from the defendants. It is one of 11 other suits in the U.S., along with six in Ireland and five in the United Kingdom.

As would be anticipated, the insurers have not agreed to pay any claims to Castlelake. Alternative dispute resolution is anticipated but defendants want to continue with discovery before a mediator is selected. They say that at this time it is impossible to identify all persons and entities that may be involved so a mediator could not ascertain any possible conflicts of interest.

Bazis points to two important changes recently in the law. The first was Energy Policy Advocates v. Ellison in 2022, where the Supreme Court recognized that Minnesota follows the common-interest doctrine, which applies to prevent the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work-product doctrine when parties with the same legal interests share documents. It also said that the attorney-client privilege may apply to internal communications among attorneys in public law agencies.

The other is the new noncompete law. It bans almost all post-termination noncompetes between employers and their employees and between employers and certain independent contractors entered on or after July 1, 2023.