THE AUTHORS
Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez, and Peter J. Lewis are experienced trial and appellate lawyers representing insurers and businesses in complex, high stake, precedent setting cases across the country. This book celebrates America 250 and pays tribute to the important role of insurance and the significant contributions of insurers backstopping the American economy, promoting invention, and fostering ingenuity and security since the founding of our nation. Scott, Pedro, and Peter share their insights on these “golden ages” of the insurance coverage wars gleamed from their years spent in corporate board rooms, at negotiation sessions, in “judicial hellholes,” and in trial and appellate courtrooms dispensing justice from coast to coast. Business owners and executives, insurance professionals, attorneys, historians, and Americans from sea to shining sea will find this journey through the American insurance experience to be both rewarding and enlightening.
Scott M. Seaman is co-chair of Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP’s Global Insurance Services Practice Group. He is nationally recognized for representing insurers and reinsurers in a wide-range of complex property and casualty matters. As a commercial litigator and trial lawyer with more than 38 years of experience, he is known for employing his deep knowledge of the law, insurance, and financial industries, strategic thinking, and honed trial and appellate advocacy to produce creative solutions and outstanding results for clients. Clients regularly turn to Scott and his team for counsel and representation in challenging, complex, and high-stakes insurance and business matters. Scott has a long track record of successfully representing companies before trial courts, appellate courts, and arbitration panels across the country in a variety of cases and matters involving general liability coverage (primary, umbrella, and excess), professional liability coverage, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, transactions insurance, first-party property coverage, bad faith and extra-contractual matters, fee disputes, and facultative and treaty reinsurance contracts. He also has handled a variety of challenging international, professional liability, cyber, health/life science, directors’ and officers’ liability, tort and product liability, and business and commercial cases. He regularly counsels companies on emerging issues and matters impacting their portfolio interests.
Scott is a prolific author and sought-after speaker on insurance and litigation issues. He has been recognized as a Top Insurance author for the last six consecutive years in the JD Supra Readers’ Choice Awards and hosts Hinshaw Insurance Law Television. He was named to the inaugural list of Midwest Trailblazers by The American Lawyer magazine. The list recognizes 50 professionals from 12 Midwestern states “who have moved the needle in the legal industry” and “are truly agents of change.” He was selected for his “high-profile, complex insurance coverage cases nationwide, which resulted in precedent-setting rulings that have altered insurance law.” Scott has received numerous distinctions and recognitions, including being named to Crain’s Chicago Business 2024 Notable Leaders in Accounting, Consulting &, Law and to Crain’s Chicago Business 2025 Notable Litigators & Trial Lawyers, and garnering a Band 1 ranking in Insurance: Dispute Resolution by Chambers USA.
He can be contacted at ss*****@********aw.com.
Scott M. Seaman: https://www.hinshawlaw.com/en/professionals/scott-seaman
Pedro E. Hernandez is co-chair of Hinshaw &, Culbertson LLP’s Global Insurance Services Practice Group. He focuses his litigation practice on insurance coverage, commercial disputes, real estate and construction deals, and intellectual property, including trademark and trade secrets. Pedro also represents clients in the entertainment and media industries. Representing domestic and international insurers, he handles high-profile coverage litigation and bad faith cases nationwide. His work includes commercial general liability, errors and omissions, and first-party claims involving significant property damage. In addition, Pedro manages commercial class actions in multidistrict litigation courts and has taken numerous cases to verdict. A regular speaker at insurance industry events, Pedro shares insights at conferences across the United States and the United Kingdom. He has authored numerous publications and is a 2026 Daily Business Review Florida Legal Award Finalist for Best Mentor.
He can be contacted at ph********@********aw.com.
Pedro E. Hernandez: https://www.hinshawlaw.com/en/professionals/pedro-hernandez
Peter J. Lewis is a partner in Hinshaw &, Culbertson LLP’s Ft. Lauderdale office. In his diverse litigation practice, Peter focuses on solving complex issues in aviation insurance and bad faith claims. He counsels clients on aviation, toxic torts, and professional and product liability, and handles commercial litigation, coverage evaluations, and general liability defense. Peter represents commercial and regional airlines, flight schools, fixed-based operators, and Part 135 charter operators, defending clients in wrongful death, aircraft crashes, commercial, and product disputes across the country. He is listed in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch and has authored multiple publications.
He can be reached at pl****@********aw.com.
Peter J. Lewis: https://www.hinshawlaw.com/en/professionals/peter-lewis
