Dorothea W. Regal, one of the founding partners of the firm, has over 25 years of experience in commercial litigation, commercial insurance claims and letter of credit law.

Ms. Regal has won numerous summary judgment and other dispositive motions for the firm’s clients in federal and state courts, has successfully argued numerous appeals and has tried and won federal jury trials. She has also successfully arbitrated before the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). Ms. Regal’s practice encompasses litigation and counseling on complex commercial matters, international business disputes, letters of credit, insurance coverage and employment issues.

In insurance matters, Ms. Regal has successfully represented and counseled commercial and industrial policyholders in connection with insurance coverage claims under liability and casualty insurance policies. She provides on-going counseling and claim management for one policyholder regarding toxic exposure and products liability claims (over $100 Million) under legacy insurance policies. She represented a major nearby property owner in connection with its insurance claims arising out of the September 11, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City. She has participated in major environmental insurance coverage litigation against liability insurers in the United States and abroad. She has successfully negotiated insurance claims on behalf of the policyholder with and among major insurance companies and reinsurers and including insolvent insurers in the United States and abroad. She has counseled policyholders regarding insurance coverage for asbestos claims, products liability coverage, Directors & Officers (D&O) coverage, Errors & Omissions (E&O) coverage, employment practices liability coverage and environmental insurance coverage.

In regard to letters of credit, Ms. Regal has successfully handled many letter of credit cases and counseled clients in this highly specialized area, representing banks, including bank-to-bank issues, or their customers or beneficiaries. Among her reported decisions are the landmark federal cases of Oei v. Citibank, N.A., 957 F. Supp. 492 (S.D.N.Y. 1997), where she won a judgment for the applicant for wrongful honor by the issuer, and established the legal precedent that the applicant was not precluded from raising objections to the issuer’s payment after payment was made, and Tradax Petroleum America, Inc. v. Coral Petroleum, Inc., 878 F2d 830 (5^th Cir. 1989) (impossibility does not excuse beneficiary’s noncompliance with the presentation requirements in the letter of credit).

Ms. Regal has authored several publications on letters of credit and has lectured on that topic for the Practicing Law Institute and the New York County Lawyers’ Association. She is the co-author of the Letter of Credit chapter in the inaugural West publication of Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts (West 1995). Her publications include: ALetter of Credit Litigation,” in International Commercial Litigation: United States Litigation Yearbook (Euromoney, Dec. 1996/Jan. 1997); “Letters of Credit,” in Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts, West 1995 & Supp. 1996; “Impossibility of Performance: In Texas a Letter of Credit is an Ordinary Contract,” 5 Letters of Credit Report 7, Sept./Oct. 1990; “Impossibility of Performance Does Not Excuse a Failure to Comply with Documentary Requirements,” 4 Letters of Credit Report 15, Jan./Feb. 1990; “The Emerging Fraud Exception,” 1 Letters of Credit Report 1, introductory issue, 1986.

Ms. Regal is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and has served on Committees of the Association (Member, Committee on Litigation, 1999-present; Sub-Committee on the Civil Appeals Management Program (CAMP), 2000-present; Committee on the Judiciary, 1985-86, 1993-94, 1996-99; 1999-00). She is also a former Chairperson of the Committee on State Constitution (1984-87) of the New York State Bar Association.

Ms. Regal has regularly participated as a faculty member in the deposition skills program of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York entitled “Litigation Skills Workshop: Taking and Defending Depositions.”

Ms. Regal graduated from Vassar College in 1968 and from Brooklyn Law School, magna cum laude, in 1978. She was the Editor-in-Chief of the Brooklyn Law Review (1977-78) and a Trustee of the Brooklyn Law School (1980-82). Ms. Regal was a corporate and litigation associate at White & Case from 1978 through 1995.

Ms. Regal is a member of the bar of the State of New York, the United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the Second and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.