Michelle J. d’Arcambal

Ms. d’Arcambal has more than twenty-five years of experience defending companies in all aspects of commercial litigation, including class actions, mediations, arbitrations, appeals, and trial. She has handled many and varied matters relating to life, health, and disability litigation since 1994.

Ms. d’Arcambal developed a unique understanding of corporations and their businesses while working in the Legal Department of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. At MetLife, she defended the company in nationwide class actions relating to allegations concerning the sale of individual life insurance products in connection with the “vanishing premium” litigation. Ms. d’Arcambal also defended the company in group life, health, and disability matters, supervised outside counsel nationwide, and advised business clients regarding pre-litigation issues.

Ms. d’Arcambal was previously a partner in the New York City office of Ross & Hardies, now known as McGuire Woods LLP, where she concentrated in banking and real estate litigation. Ms. d’Arcambal began her legal career in the litigation department of Brown & Wood, LLP, now known as Sidley Austin, LLP, where she concentrated in securities, surety and real estate litigation.

Affiliations and Activities

National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (“NAMWOLF”)

Defense research Institute (“DRI”)

National Association of Woman Lawyers (“NAWL”)

Co-Chair, American Counsel of Life Insurers’ Class Action Working Group, 1995-1996.

Steering Committee of the CARE Women’s Initiative of New York

Speeches and Publications

On May 16, 2023, Vedant Gokhale, Michelle d’Arcambal, and Jackie Malyk presented a CLE for a client discussing the nuts and bolts of rescission and lapse of an insurance policy, avoiding interpleader pitfalls, and strategies to use during discovery and litigation.

March 24, 2021: What makes a disability or life insurance policy contestable and when is it contestable? With fraudulent schemes to void policies becoming more prevalent and ongoing changes in the way insurers can perform routine contestability reviews after death, Michelle d’Arcambal and Vedant Gokhale will discuss strategies that insurers can employ to adapt to the ever growing changes in the industry as we enter this new decade.

On October 26, 2020, Michelle d’Arcambal, Kimberly O’Toole, and Vedant Gokhale conducted a CLE presentation for a client entitled “Life Insurance Litigation: Recent Topics in Rescission and Interpleader Cases.” The presentation addressed how outside counsel can assist with obtaining information during the regular contestability investigation, situations where policies may be rescinded after the expiration of the two-year contestability period, and avoiding unnecessary costs and potential extra-contractual liability in interpleader matters.

The Demise of Two Rescission Truisms, M. Darcambal and V. Gokhale, DRI Newsletter, Volume 31, Issue 2, July 2020. What makes a disability or life insurance policy contestable and when is it contestable? This article examines those questions focusing on the timing, proof of fraud and the obtaining of medical records issues as you navigate the decade ahead in this ever changing landscape of disability and life insurance policy contestability.

On April 15, 2020, Michelle d’Arcambal conducted a remote presentation, sponsored by the Defense Research Institute’s LHD Corporate Counsel Committee, entitled “Recission: Can You Take it Back?”. The presentation focused on addressing the current difficulty with obtaining information during the regular contestability investigation, and situations where policies may be rescinded after the expiration of the two-year contestability period.

Rescinding A Disability Policy-d’Arcambal and Connolly, 2019

On April 1, 2019, Michelle d’Arcambal and Maureen Middleton, Assistant General Counsel at Primerica Life Insurance Company, conducted a presentation entitled “Defending Corporate Depositions: The Best Laid Plans” at the Eastern Claims Conference, focusing on how to avoid the gnarly issues that may arise with corporate representative depositions, using  specific preparation tools and guidelines.

On May 7, 2018, Michelle d’Arcambal and Maureen Middleton, Assistant General Counsel at Primerica Life Insurance Company, conducted a presentation entitled “Take it Back!” at the Eastern Claims Conference, which focused on the ins and outs of rescission litigation.

On April 21, 2017, Michelle d’Arcambal participated in a panel discussion sponsored by the Third Annual Orlando Health Care Forum entitled “Perspectives on Health Plan Overpayments.” The panelists discussed strategies regarding collecting and defending health plan overpayments to providers; Ms. d’Arcambal focused on the health plan perspective and litigation.

On March 16, 2016, Michelle d’Arcambal participated in a panel entitled “Health Care Fraud: Litigation” at the Eastern Claims Conference. The session addressed the many ways that insurers, their customers and members, and state and federal authorities have been attempting to curb fraud in the healthcare industry.

Panel Speaker, Succession Planning for Law Firms, 2014 NAMWOLF Annual Meeting

Panel Speaker, Recent Attempts to Limit ERISA Affirmative Actions and to Expand Discovery in ERISA Benefits Cases, 2012 NAMWOLF Insurance Industry Initiative CLE Program

Moderator, Stranger-Owned Life Insurance Panel, 2009 NAMWOLF Annual Meeting

Co-leader, training session for major life insurer on Disability Waiver of Premium Riders (2008)

Presenter, Starting Your Own Law Firm, Association of the Bar of New York (2007)

Speaker, Defense of Accidental Death and Dismemberment Benefit Denials, Eastern Claims Conference, (Spring 1999)

Author and Speaker, The Assault on Subrogation, 1997 ALI/ABA Conference on Life Insurance Litigation

Co-Author, A Perspective on Recent Class Action Litigation Involving Individual Life Insurance, 1996 ALI/ABA Conference on Life Insurance Litigation.

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