Decorated Insurance Litigator Andrew Bourne Reunites with Former Colleagues at Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna

Newly Launched Boutique Also Adds Counsel and Six Associates

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna, the boutique insurance recovery law firm that launched in January, has already hired its first lateral partner: Andrew Bourne, a widely acclaimed litigator who has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance coverage and earned multiple groundbreaking decisions. The move represents a homecoming for Bourne, who began his legal career working alongside Cohen Ziffer’s name partners at two Am Law 200 firms. He joins the firm along with one counsel and six new associates, who bring the firm’s headcount to 28.

“On our launch, we noted that the strength of this firm comes from the chemistry our lawyers have built together over time,” said Robin Cohen, chair of Cohen Ziffer. “Andrew only adds to that chemistry, being a superior litigator we know well and admire greatly.”

Bourne has led parties through numerous high-profile disputes, including a global media and automotive conglomerate in its pursuit of coverage in connection with legal claims stemming from the release of Hulk Hogan’s sex tapes. In the last year alone, he secured two multimillion recoveries for policyholders—one under a cargo insurance policy, and the second for one of the world’s largest agrichemical companies. He also obtained a precedential appellate decision recognizing the right of New York policyholders to sue insurers for bad-faith handling of insurance claims.

“The only thing better than adding a star litigator is adding one you like and respect as much as we do Andrew,” said Ken Frenchman, managing partner of Cohen Ziffer. Frenchman worked closely with Bourne during their time in practice together.

Bourne most recently practiced at the women-owned litigation boutique Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney, LLP, where he worked on cutting-edge insurance matters for the leading provider of closing and post-closing services for private-company M&A, an international bank based in China, and the independent board of directors of the most prominent electric vehicle and clean energy company in the world, among other clients. “This is a once-in-a-career opportunity I had to take—to reconnect with the lawyers I trained under, who are the best in the business, and join them in a new enterprise,” said Bourne.

Among other recognitions, Bourne was named an Elite Boutique Trailblazer by The National Law Journal in 2020, and a Local Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation since 2019.

In addition to Bourne, Cohen Ziffer has also added a new counsel, Nicholas Maxwell, as well as six new associates. Maxwell comes to Cohen Ziffer from Anderson Kill, where he has been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for Insurance Coverage every year since 2015. In 2020, he was named to the Insurance Coverage Law Center’s editorial advisory board.

The new associates are:

• Maria Brinkmann, who served as a judicial clerk in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey before establishing her insurance recovery practice at Anderson Kill;
• Zachary Freeman, who has dual degrees from New York University, where he gained skills in economic modeling and a background in corporate law;
• Lisa McAnearney, who began her career at Sullivan & Cromwell and, before attending Columbia Law School, clerked on the Supreme Court of Western Australia;
• Jason Meyers, who comes from Lowenstein Sandler and brings experience in transactional and securities matters for public companies to his insurance recovery practice;
• Shafkat Rakib, who also comes from Anderson Kill, and interned with the Legal Aid Society of New York before graduating from Cardozo Law School; and
• Samantha Smith, who served as a judicial clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York before establishing her insurance recovery and commercial litigation practice at Anderson Kill.

Cohen Ziffer launched with 12 lawyers and now stands at 20. The firm expects more additions in the weeks ahead.

About Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna LLP

The lawyers at Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna LLP (www.cohenziffer.com) guide policyholders through their highest-value insurance recovery disputes. With numerous jury verdicts, precedent-setting wins, and billions of dollars recovered across a range of industries, our pledge to clients is unwavering: We know how to lead you through this.