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CANTILO & BENNETT, L.L.P.

 

Patrick H. Cantilo, P.C., Partner

phcantilo@cb-firm.com

 

Having received a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors from the University of Texas in 1977, and his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1980, Patrick Cantilo was admitted to practice law in the State of Texas in November 1980.  He has since been admitted to practice in all Texas Courts, the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth and the Fifth Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court. 

While most recently Mr. Cantilo's practice has been concentrated on the reorganization of health services corporations and in the area of insurance regulation, rehabilitation and liquidation, his experience is far more diverse. 

As advisor to state regulators, he has become deeply involved in conversion, merger, reorganization or initial public offering transactions for a number of Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans. 

Much of Mr. Cantilo's law practice has been devoted to the area of civil litigation, including cases in the State and Federal Courts, both at the trial and appellate levels.  His litigation experience includes relatively straight-forward matters like the prosecution or defense of insurance claims and very complex matters such as major bankruptcy reorganizations and insurance rehabilitations.  Demonstrative of this experience are the roles played by Mr. Cantilo as lead counsel for Texas Insurance regulators in the Maxicare Bankruptcy (reported at In re Family Health Services, Inc., 101 B.R. 618 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 1989)) and in the bankruptcy proceeding involving an insurance holding company and its affiliates.  (See In re First Financial Enterprises, Inc., 99 B.R. 751 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. 1989)).  

He has served as lead counsel in cases involving injunction against the presentation of letters of credit, licensing of child care facilities, revocation of physician privileges, landlord tenant disputes, medical malpractice actions, construction negligence, wrongful lien, insurance fraud, regulatory jurisdiction, commercial lending, deceptive trade practices, defense of a variety of insurance claims, employment issues, liability of officers and directors, bankruptcy, insurance insolvency, and a host of other matters.   

Mr. Cantilo has also devoted a significant part of his legal career to complicated business and insurance transactions, including the negotiation of complex reinsurance transactions, the development and implementation of complex insurance rehabilitation plans, the negotiation of purchase and sale agreements for a variety of businesses, goods and services, participation in corporate restructurings, participation in complex real estate transactions, mergers, acquisitions, and similar matters. 

He has served as Counsel to the Receiver, as Special Deputy Receiver, Deputy Receiver, Deputy Liquidator or in comparable capacities in literally dozens of insurance and managed care insolvencies.  He has taken the lead in the rehabilitation and liquidation of a wide variety of entities ranging from a small trust company to a multi-billion dollar life insurance company and including a number of health maintenance organizations, life insurance companies, accident and health insurance companies, property and casualty insurance companies, title insurance companies, insurance agencies, premium finance companies and related entities.  He has negotiated the formation and commutation of reinsurance agreements, developed plans for the collection of agents' balances, collected reinsurance recoverables, negotiated agreements with guaranty funds and other regulators, negotiated with federal authorities on such matters as insurance claims disputes, tax claims and related matters, developed and implemented complex plans for the rehabilitation or liquidation of a large variety of insurers and insurance related entities, and has written and lectured numerous times on related topics.  This area of practice continues to occupy much of Mr. Cantilo's time, as he continues to play the lead role in the rehabilitation of a multi-billion dollar life insurer, the receivership of a household name-casualty insurer, the wind-down of a health maintenance organization and more limited roles in other insurance insolvencies.  At the same time, Mr. Cantilo continues to devote much of his attention to complex transactional work and a broad array of regulatory and civil litigation matters. 

 

Languages 

French and Spanish.

 

Transactions

Corporate transactions include:  demutualization of Trigon Insurance Company; conversion to for profit of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri; litigation arising from the mutualization of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, Inc.; sponsored demutualization of  Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, Inc.; proposed conversion of CareFirst of Maryland, Inc.  and acquisition by WellPoint Health Networks, Inc.; conversion and sale of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Colorado,  and conversion to non-profit mutual of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Dakota.  Receivership or conservation proceedings for the following, among other, companies include:  Baldwin-United Companies, Executive Life Insurance Company, Fidelity Bankers Life Insurance Company, Home Owners Warranty Corporation, Knickerbocker Life Insurance Company, United Capital Life Insurance Company, General Protective Life Insurance Company, First United Trust Company, United Bankers Life Insurance Company, Texas Prepaid Health Plans, Group Health of El Paso, MetroCare, East Texas Health Plans, Maxicare Health Plans, MedCenters of North Dakota, Foundation Health Plan of New Jersey, Mobile County Mutual Insurance Company, Commodore County Mutual Insurance Company, Kenilworth Insurance Company, Cotton Belt Insurance Company, Superior Lloyds Insurance Company and Colonial Title Insurance Company.

 

Publications

"Texas Health Maintenance Organizations:  Lessons from Insolvency", Texas Health Law Reporter, Vol. 1, Nos. 4 and 5, October and December 1984;

"Insurer Insolvency:  A Primer for Malpractice Insureds", Texas Health Law Reporter, Vol. 2, No. 5, December 1985;

"What To Do If You Believe Your Malpractice Carrier Is Insolvent”, Texas Medicine, Vol. 83, No. 3, March 1987;

"New Legislation Affects Fees, Taxes for Texas Third-Party Administrators”, Houston Insurance News, December 1, 1987;

"Health, HMO and Related Entity Insolvencies”, American Bar Association, Tort and Insurance Practice Section, Law and Practice of Life Insurance Company Insolvency, June 1993, 1996; and

"Rehabilitation of Managed Care Organizations:  A Thumbnail Sketch of Certain Key Considerations”, The Insurance Receiver, International Association of Insurance Receivers, Winter 1999.

 

Presentations and Lectures 

"HMO Issues: A Seminar for State Regulators", (Bureau of HMOs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1986;

"How to Examine HMO Financial Viability", seminars (N.A.H.M.O.R and O.H.M.O.-D.H.H.S.) 1981;

"HMOs: What Do We Know?", seminar (N.C.H.S.R., Texas Departments of Health and Insurance and Texas Senate) 1981;

Seminar on Agent's Liability, Texas Association of Life Underwriters Convention, 1985;

Group Health Institute, (Group Health Association of America, Inc., and N.A.H.M.O.R.) 1986;

"The Regulator's Response to the New Competitive Environment", (American Medical Care and Review Association and N.A.H.M.O.R.) 1986;

"Current HMO Issues: A Seminar for Regulators",l (N.A.I.C. and N.A.H.M.O.R.) 1986;

"HMO Issues 1987: A Seminar for State Regulators", (N.A.H.M.O.R. and O.P.H.C.) 1987;

"HMO Issues 1988: A Seminar for State Regulators", (N.A.H.M.O.R. and O.P.H.C.) 1988;

"HMO Issues 1989: A Seminar for State Regulators", (N.A.H.M.O.R. and O.P.H.C.) 1989;

HMO REGULATIONS: THE LATEST TRENDS IN STATE ISSUES--"Bankruptcy: A Federal or State Problem?", Group Health Institute 1989, June 15, 1989, Atlanta Georgia;

"A Guide to Insurer Insolvency", State Bar of Texas Professional Development Program entitled DEALING WITH THE FAILED INSURER, October 1989, Austin and Dallas, Texas;

"HMO Insolvency: State or Federal Jurisdiction?", National Conference of Insurance Legislators, Austin, Texas, November 1989;

"1988 HMO Law Update", National Health Lawyers Association Meeting, Chicago, December 1989;

"N.A.H.M.O.R. Education Foundation Advanced Seminar", San Diego, California, April 27, 1990;

"NAIC/N.A.H.M.O.R. Committee and Industry Advisory Group", Arlington, Virginia, October  2, 1990;

"HMO Issues 1991: Defining Managed Care", N.A.H.M.O.R. Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, Indiana, June 6, 1991;

"LOMA Group Insurance Administration Committee", Guest Speaker, Austin, Texas, March 3, 1992;

"Legal Issues Involved in the Liquidation of Insolvent Insurers", Texas Department of Insurance, Guest Speaker, Austin, Texas, August 15, 1992;

"Receivership Appeal Procedures", National Association of Insurance Commissioners/Society of Insurance Receivers, Guest Speaker, Orlando, Florida, February 18-19, 1993;

"Health, HMO and Related Entity Insolvencies", American Bar Association National Institute on Life Insurer Insolvency, Guest Speaker, Chicago, Illinois, June 19-20, 1993;

"Mock Takeover", Society of Insurance Receivers, Guest Speaker, New Orleans, Louisiana, December 3, 1994;

"Legal Issues in Managed Care Regulation", National Association of Managed Care Regulators, Guest Speaker, San Antonio, Texas, May 1, 1995;

(EX) Special Committee on Blue Cross Plans, 1995 NAIC Winter National Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, December 4, 1995;

"HMOs, Warranty Insurers, and Other "Special" Receiverships", National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the Society of Insurance Receivers Insolvency Workshop, Albuquerque, New Mexico, January 25, 1996;

"Risk Retention Groups", National Association of Insurance Commissioners Federal Preemption of State Insurance Laws, Detroit, Michigan, March 23, 1996;

Interim Meeting of the Special Committee on Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans, Dallas, Texas, April 26, 1996;

"Health, HMO, and Related Entity Insolvencies", American Bar Association National Program, Insurance Regulation of Health Care Arrangements, New York, New York, June 2, 1996;

"Insolvency Issues, Historical Perspective", (HCFA), Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on PSO Solvency Standards, Arlington, Virginia, October 22, 1997;

"Insurer Restructuring: A Framework for Regulatory Analysis", (NAAG), National Training Conference for Regulators - Health Care Conversions and Acquisitions, Boston, Massachusetts, July 19, 1998;

"Blue Cross Blue Shield Conversions", (NAMCR), 1998 Fall Conference, Managed Care's Future, Washington Perspective, Washington, D.C., October 26, 1998;

"Troubled Managed Care Organizations: A Return to Bad Old Times?", (NAMCR), HMO Insolvency Seminar, San Antonio, Texas, February 18-20, 1999;

"Troubled Managed Care Organizations: Back to the Future!", (NAMCR), HMO Insolvency Seminar, Charleston, South Carolina, November 3-4, 1999;

"Managed Care: a Different Millennium Bug" IAIR/NAIC Insolvency Workshop; Tuscon, Arizona, January 20-21, 2000;

"HMO Insolvencies and Their Impact: Provider, Patient, Legal, and Financial Issues", Mealey’s Insurance Insolvency & Reinsurance Roundtable, Scottsdale, Arizona, April 13-15, 2000;

"Collaboration: The Future of Healthcare", National Association of Managed Care Regulators, Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 17, 2000;

"Managed Care Insolvencies: Just When You Thought it Was Safe to Go Back in the Water", Society of Financial Examiners 2000 Career Development Seminar, Unchartered Waters: Fathoming the Depths of Fraud, San Diego, California, July 23-26, 2000;

"Delegation Agreements–The Legal Issues", Downstream Contracting and Delegation Summit; National Assoc. of Managed Care Regulators, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 13-15, 2000;

"Solvency vs. Quality – Striking a Balance", National Association of Managed Care Regulators, Long Beach, California, May 22, 2001;

"Lessons and Implications of Various Blue Cross Blue Shield Conversions", New York, New York, June 21, 2003;

"The Day after Tomorrow", 2005 International Association of Insurance Receivers Insolvency Workshop, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, February 3-4, 2005;

"Receiver’s Perspective", NCIGF 2005 Legal Seminar, National Conference of Insurance Guaranty Funds, New York, New York, July 21, 2005;

"Top Ten Ways to Be a Good Lawyer", Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 4, 2005;

"Top Ten Ways to Ensure Your Receivership is Perfect", Co-Chair, 2006 International Association of Insurance Receivers Insolvency Workshop, Cosmic Tour of Receivership Issues, San Diego, California, February 1-3, 2006.

International Association of Insurance Receivers 2007 Insolvency Workshop, Moderator, Tucson, Arizona, January 31 - February 2, 2007;

"Regulatory and Solvency Issues", Illinois CPA Society 2007 Insurance Conference, Chicago, Illinois, October 16, 2007;

"Bridging the Gap Between the Capital Markets and Troubled Insurers", Organizer B Planning Committee, International Association of Insurance Receivers, Emerging Investment Opportunities, New York, New York, October 24, 2007;

"Insurance and the Globalization of Financial Services: Challenges for Worldwide Regulations and Supervision", 15TH International Association of Insurance Supervisors ("IAIS") Annual Conference, Budapest, Hungary, October 14 - 17, 2008;

"Receivership Feud", International Association of Insurance Receivers 2009 Post Inaugural Insolvency Conference, Tampa, Florida, January 21-23, 2009;

"Status of the Insurance Industry, What is a Receivership, Insurance Agent’s Responsibilities", RiskProNet International, Construction Practice Group, Chicago, Illinois, February 16-17, 2009;

"Insolvencies Regulations and Safety Net in Insurance International Perspective, Transborder Failures in Insurance: U.S. Experience", 25th PROGRES International Seminar, Montreux, Switzerland, April 6-7, 2009; and

"Solvency and Receiverships in Insurance", Illinois CPA Society 2009 Insurance Conference, Chicago, Illinois, October 23, 2009.

 

Public Service

Counsel for Texas Judicial Insurance Receiver, 1980-1983.

National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Liquidators Task Force 1982-1983.

National Association of Health Maintenance Organization Regulators (now National Association of Managed Care Regulators) Associate Member since 1986.

National Association of Insurance Commissioners/National Association of Health Maintenance Organization Regulators Joint Committee, Advisory Committee 1986.

Chairman, Financial Subcommittee, H.M.O. Advisory Committee established by the State Board of Insurance, 1986.

National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Liquidators Task Force Advisory Committee, 1986.

NAIC/N.A.H.M.O.R. Continuation of Benefits Working Group, Contracts and Services Committee, 1989.

N.A.H.M.O.R. Advisory Committee, 1991.

NAIC Receiver's Handbook Committee, 1991.

 

Member

Travis County Bar Association (Litigation Section); American Bar (Litigation and Tort & Insurance Sections); State Bar of Texas (Litigation Section); International Association of Insurance Receivers President 2010, (Principal Charter Member, 1991 - Present); International Association of Insurance Receivers Health Care Task Force; International Association of Insurance Receivers Guaranty Funds and Receivers Liaison Committee; Austin Theatre Alliance Board Member, Austin Theater Alliance Century Club; KUT Leadership Circle; KUT's Advisory Board; Austin Lyric Opera Director=s Circle; The University of Texas Chancellor=s Council; and is currently listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Insurance Law Specialty. 

 

Designations

Certified Insurance Receiver – Multiple Lines, International Association of Insurance Receivers, 2000.

 

Current Areas of Practice

Demutualization, conversion, merger, acquisition and other reorganization of insurers and managed care companies; regulation, rehabilitation and insolvency of insurers, including health maintenance organizations; reinsurance contracting, disputes and litigation; insurance litigation; regulation of third-party administrators; formation and development of emerging enterprises, merger, reorganization and acquisition of small and medium sized businesses, and representation of established companies; professional liability litigation; general civil litigation (state and Federal courts); Federal bankruptcy as related to insurance insolvency; professional malpractice defense; mediation; and general business law.

Not Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

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