Los Angeles Daily Journal
February  24, 2004
John Ryan

Holocaust Insurance Claim Returns to L.A. State Court

LOS ANGELES - Holocaust survivors who accuse an international commission of unlawfully processing World War II-era insurance claims to reduce the exposure of an Italian insurer from $1 billion to $100 million won an early battle in federal court Monday. U.S. District Judge Ronald Lew denied a motion filed by the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims to have the suit dismissed. Lew also agreed with the plaintiffs that their lawsuit should return to Los Angeles Superior Court, where it originally was filed. "This is good news for the survivors," William Shernoff, who represents the plaintiffs in the action, said outside court Monday. Shernoff, a partner at Claremont's Shernoff Bidart & Darras, said that Lew's decision allows survivors to pursue their claims against the commission for unfair business practices under state Business and Professions Code Section 17200. The lawsuit against the commission follows thousands of claims filed in U.S. courts against Italy-based Assicurazioni Generali and other insurance companies by thousands of Europeans who survived the Holocaust. They believed they were due benefits owed under life, homeowners and other policies purchased by themselves or family members. The survivors were largely rebuffed, however, because they did not have the records to back their claims. The suit alleges that the commission is helping Generali reduce by 90 percent its exposure for unpaid life insurance policies. Generali and other European insurance companies established the commission in 1998 to expedite claims on policies purchased in the decades before 1945. The companies also finance the commission's operations. The commission has faced criticism from state officials and members of Congress. It has denied wrongdoing in processing claims and billed itself as a free and nonlitigious service for Holocaust survivors and their heirs. Constantinos Panagopoulos, a partner at Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll who represents the commission, declined to comment on Lew's ruling, other than