James F. Jorden
Managing Partner

Washington, D.C., Florida

Email: jfj@jordenusa.com
Phone: 202.965.8135
Fax: 202.965.8104

James Jorden is the Managing Partner of JORDEN BURT LLP and a nationally recognized expert in insurance and securities industry litigation. Mr. Jorden conducts and supervises the Firm's substantial litigation practice, representing many of the country's largest financial institutions in securities, corporate and pension litigation. He is known for his expertise in national class action litigation, having served as lead or associate counsel in over one hundred securities, insurance, RICO and other class actions. Over the past 15 years, he has also been lead trial counsel in more than 50 individual cases in federal and state courts throughout the United States. He has argued before the United States Supreme Court, eight of the U.S. circuit courts, and numerous state courts of appeal.

Described in The National Law Journal as a "lawyer's lawyer" by one of his financial institution clients, Mr. Jorden is regularly retained as senior counsel by national insurance companies, mutual funds and banks. He has represented industry groups, including the American Council of Life Insurers, on complex commercial litigation matters. In addition to his trial and appellate practice, Mr. Jorden represents clients before the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, the Justice Department and state regulatory agencies.

Mr. Jorden recently served as lead counsel in a six week trial in Tennessee which resulted in a jury verdict for his financial institution client in excess of $70 million. He also successfully defeated class certification, at both the District Court and in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in a suit alleging policy rate discrimination against more than 1.4 million putative class members (Thorn v. Jefferson Pilot Life Insurance Co., 445 F.3d 311 (4th Cir. 2006)). Mr. Jorden is currently serving as lead defense counsel in several multi-district litigation proceedings involving the sale of annuities. During the past ten years, he has also served as lead defense counsel in six of the most significant Federal Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court victories involving class actions in the life insurance industry.

He is the co-author of the Handbook on ERISA Litigation published by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business/Aspen Publishers (1992)(3d ed. 2007), and has lectured widely on corporate, securities and employee benefit litigation and authored numerous articles on class actions and trial practice. He chairs the Firm's Life & Health industry group.

Representative Matters

• American Bankers Ins. Co. of Florida, Inc. v. First Union Nat. Bank, 699 F. Supp. 1174 (E.D. N.C. 1988)
• American Bankers Ins. Co. of Florida, Inc. v. First Union Nat. Bank, 900 F.2d 249 (4th Cir. 1990)
• American Bankers Ins. Group, Inc. v. Board of Governors of Fed. Reserve Sys., 3 F. Supp. 2d 37 (D.D.C. 1998)
• Baron v. Best Buy Co., 79 F. Supp. 2d 1350 (S.D. Fla. 1999)
• Benefit Consultants, Inc. v. Fortis Cos., Case No. 28611 (Tenn. Ch. Ct. May 26, 2005)
• Benevento v. LifeUSA Holding, Inc., 61 F. Supp. 2d 407 (E.D. Pa. 1999)
• Bergeron v. Pan American Assurance Co., 731 So.2d 1037 (La. App. 4th Cir. 1999)
• Bowers v. Jefferson Pilot Financial Ins. Co., 219 F.R.D. 578 (E.D. Mich. 2004)
• Cary v. Wolfson, 504 So.2d 464 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1987)
• Coleman Clinic, Ltd. v. Massachusetts Mut. Life Ins. Co., 698 F. Supp. 740 (C.D. Ill. 1988)
• Cologne Reinsurance Co. v. Southern Underwriters, Inc., 630 N.Y.S. 2d 548 (N.Y.A.D. 1995)
• Dorsey v. Northern Life Ins. Co., No. Civ. A. 04-0342, 2005 WL 2036738 (E.D. La. Aug. 15, 2005)
• Fechter v. Connecticut Gen. Life Ins. Co., 800 F. Supp. 182 (E.D. Pa. 1992)
• Ferguson v. Security Life of Denver Ins. Co., 996 F. Supp. 597 (N.D. Tex. 1998)
• Great-West Life & Annuity Ins. Co. v. Knudson, 534 U.S. 204 (2002)
• Harper Wyman Co. v. Connecticut Gen. Life Ins., 1991 WL 18467 (N.D. Ill. 1991)
• Harris Trust & Sav. Bank v. John Hancock Mut. Life Ins. Co., 970 F.2d 1138 (2nd Cir. 1992)
• Harvey M. Jasper Ret. Trust v. Ivax Corp., 920 F. Supp. 1260 (S.D. Fla. 1995)
• Hertz Corp. v. Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc., 16 F.3d 1126, (11th Cir. 1994)
• In Re LifeUSA Holding Inc., 242 F.3d 136 (3rd Cir. 2001)
• Jordan v. AVCO Fin. Serv. of Ga, Inc., 117 F.3d 1254 (11th Cir. 1997)
• Magyery v. Transamerica Fin. Advisors, Inc., 315 F. Supp. 2d 954 (N.D. Ind. 2004)
• Mayo v. Hartford Life Ins. Co., 193 F. Supp. 2d 927 (S.D. Tex. 2002)
• Mayo v. Hartford Life Ins. Co., 220 F. Supp. 2d 794 (S.D. Tex. 2002)
• McCord v. Minnesota Mut. Life Ins. Co., 138 F. Supp. 2d 1180 (D. Minn. 2001)
• Parkhill v. Minnesota Mut. Life Ins. Co., 995 F. Supp. 983 (D. Minn. 1998)
• Parkhill v. Minnesota Mut. Life Ins. Co., 188 F.R.D. 332 (D. Minn. 1999)
• Parkhill v. Minnesota Mut. Life Ins. Co., 174 F. Supp. 2d 951 (D. Minn. 2000)
• Parkhill v. Minnesota Mut. Life Ins. Co., 286 F.3d 1051 (8th Cir. 2002)
• Rochester Radiology Assoc., P.C. v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 616 F. Supp. 985 (W.D.N.Y. 1985)
• Semanko v. Minnesota Mut. Life Ins. Co., 168 F. Supp. 2d 997 (D. Minn. 2000)
• Talman Home Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. American Bankers Ins., 924 F.2d 1347 (5th Cir. 1991)
• Texas Life, Acc. Health & Hosp. Service Ins. Guar. Ass'n v. Gaylord Entm't Co., 105 F.3d 210 (5th Cir. 1997)
• Thorn v. Jefferson-Pilot Ins.Co., 445 F.3d 311 (4th Cir. 2006)
• Thorn v. Jefferson Pilot Life Ins. Co., 2002 WL 31319664 (Jud. Pan. Mult. Lit. 2002)
• Thorn v. Jefferson-Pilot Life Ins. Co., No. 3:00-2782-22 (D.S.C. Dec. 2, 2004)
• United Commercial Ins. Service, Inc. v. Paymaster Corp., 962 F.2d 853 (9th Cir. 1992)
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. AIG Life Ins. Co., 872 A.2d 611 (Del. Ch. 2005)
• Walker v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 1988 WL 46635 (N.D. Ill. 1988)
• Windsor Sec., Inc. v. Hartford Life Ins. Co., 1992 WL 13354 (E.D. Pa. 1992)
• Zarrella v. Minnesota Mut. Life Ins. Co., 824 A.2d 1249 (R.I. 2003)
• Ziegler v. Connecticut Gen. Life Ins. Co., 916 F.2d 548 (9th Cir. 1990)

Speeches and Publications

• Speaker: ACLI (The American Council of Life Insurers) Trends in Annuities Litigation "Annuity Litigation Update," November 2007
• Speaker: ALI-ABA "Class Action Annuity Litigation," May 2007
• Speaker: DRI - The New Market Conduct War, 2007
• Speaker: LOMA/LIMRA Compliance & Market Conduct Exchange Conference, "A Litigator's Perspective on Compliance and Operational Risk," November 2006
• Speaker: ALI-ABA - Annuity Class Actions, 2006
• Speaker: ALIC (The Association of Life Insurance Counsel) - Review of Class Action Fairness Act, Broker Compensation Investigations/Litigation, and Current Developments in Life Insurance Industry Class Action Litigation, 2005
• Speaker: ALI-ABA - Recent Challenges to Insurance Broker Compensation Practices, 2005
• Speaker: ALI-ABA - Implications of the Canary Case and Subsequent Fund Fallout on the Insurance Industry, 2004
• Speaker: ALI-ABA - Issues Impacting Class Action Litigation With Respect to Life Products and Annuities, 2002
• Speaker: ALI-ABA - Developments in Market Conduct and Variable/Investment Product Litigation, 2002
• Speaker: Discovery and Evidentiary Issues in Non-Federal Question Class Actions, 2002
• Speaker: NAVA - Managing Your Company's Litigation and Enforcement Action Risk, 2001
• Speaker: ALI-ABA - Variable Insurance Products and Market Conduct Class Actions: The Impact of SLUSA and Other Considerations, 2001
• Speaker: LOMA/LIMRA/IMSA - Class Action Issues in Life Insurance Sales Practice Litigation, 2000
• Speaker: PLI - Selected Issues Concerning Removal and MDL Considerations in Class Litigation, 2000
• Speaker: ALI-ABA - Class Action Issues in Life Insurance Sales Practice Litigation, 2000 & 1999
• Speaker: PLI - Class Action and Merits Issues in Life Insurance Sales Practice Litigation, 1999
• Speaker: AAHP (American Association of Health Plans) - Anatomy Of A Class Action Lawsuit, 1999
• Speaker: ACLI - Recent Developments and Trends In Sales Practice Class Actions, 1998
• Speaker: ALI-ABA - Recent Perspectives on Life Insurance Sales Practice Litigation, 1998
• Speaker: DRI (Defense Research Institute) - Market Conduct Litigation: New Defense Strategies, 1998
• Speaker: ALI-ABA - Variable Products: Annuities-Life Insurance-Insurance Funds, 1997
• Speaker: ALIC (The Association of Life Insurance Counsel) - Market Conduct Class Action Litigation, 1997
• Speaker: NOLHGA - Implications of Market Conduct Class Action Litigation for Life Insurance Solvency, 1997
• Panelist: Securities Industry Association on Securities Activities of Insurance Companies: Regulatory Jurisdiction-Litigation-Compensation-Industry Market Conduct Initiatives, 1997
• Author: Litigation and Regulatory Issues for Insurance Companies, Inside the Minds: Legal Strategies for the Insurance Industry, Aspatore Books, 2005
• Co-Author: "Handbook on ERISA Litigation," Wolters Kluwer Law & Business/Aspen Publishers (3d ed. 2007)
• Author: Federal Fraud and State Law Fiduciary Duties - A Tour of the Circuits Reveals Continuing Confusion, Idaho Law Review, Spring 1983
• Co-Author: An Appraisal of Disclosure Requirements in Contest For Control Under The Williams Act, 46 George Washington Law Review 817, 1980
• Author: Special Insurance Company Problems in the Marketing and Administration of Pension and Health and Welfare Plans, The Forum - XI, No. 4, 1054, Summer 1976
• Author: Paying Up For Research: A Regulatory and Legislative Analysis, Duke Law Journal 1103, 1974
• Co-Author: Section 22(d) of The Investment Company Act of 1940 - Its Original Purpose and Present Function, Duke Law Journal 975, 1973