Suzanne C. Midlige

Managing Partner

(973) 631-6006
350 Mount Kemble Avenue
P.O. Box 1917
Morristown, NJ 07962
Direct (973) 631-6006
Fax (973) 267-6442
350 Mount Kemble Avenue
P.O. Box 1917
Morristown, NJ 07962

Suzanne Cocco Midlige is the Managing Partner and a founding member of Coughlin Midlige & Garland LLP. She is also a member of the Firm’s Insurance and Reinsurance Services Group.

Prior to election to managing partner, Suzanne served as the practice group leader for the Insurance and Reinsurance Services Group from 2004 to 2012. Suzanne’s practice focuses on the representation of domestic and international insurers and reinsurers in litigated and non-litigated matters. She has extensive experience representing multi-national companies involved in transnational disputes. Suzanne has years of experience representing the interests of insurers and reinsurers in disputes relating to financial institutions, director and officer disputes, asbestos, pollution, health hazards, and the recent opioid litigation. Suzanne has acted for multinational reinsurers in a series of corporate malfeasance claims and failed tax strategy claims, as well as coordinating counsel for a multinational reinsurer in relation to subprime and credit exposures. She has significant experience with asbestos coverage disputes, including the area of asbestos bankruptcy litigation. Significant cases include acting as counsel to 50 multinational insurers in a complex insurance and antitrust dispute involving US and Australian asbestos claims, as well as counsel to European insurers in asbestos coverage litigation filed in the US and London. Suzanne works closely with insurers in relation to the development and implementation of models to allocate losses across complex insurance programmes, and in evaluating future loss projections and developing burn rate analyses.

Suzanne served as a judicial clerk to Hon. William G Bassler, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

  • Regular representation of multi-national insurers in asbestos coverage disputes, including the area of asbestos bankruptcy litigation.
  • Lead counsel for insurers in multiple insurance coverage disputes relating to contamination of Lower Passaic River.
  • Lead counsel for insurers in multi-party coverage dispute involving herbicide.
  • Representation of insurers and reinsurers in disputes relating to financial institutions and director & officer disputes.
  • Lead counsel for insurer in claim against Directors & Officers of failed hospital.
  • Acted for multinational reinsurers in a series of corporate malfeasance claims and failed tax strategy claims.
  • Served as coordinating counsel for a multinational reinsurer in relation to subprime and credit exposures.
  • Counsel to fifty multinational insurers in a complex insurance and antitrust dispute involving US and Australian asbestos claims.
  • Monitoring counsel for insurers in relation to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) litigation.
  • Monitoring counsel for insurers in relation to organic roofing shingle class action litigation in the United States and Canada.
  • Counsel to insurer in international claim against Director & Officers of international bio-pharmaceutical company.
  • Work closely with insurers and reinsurers in relation to the development and implementation of models to allocate losses across complex insurance programs, and in evaluating future loss projections and developing burn rate analyses.
  • Representation of companies embroiled in commercial and antitrust disputes.

Speaking Engagements

Speaker, “Climate Change and Natural Disasters,” Munich, Germany (2019)

Speaker, “2019 U.S. Securities Litigation Update,” Munich, Germany (2019)

Speaker, “Farm to Table … GMOs in the Spotlight,” Munich, Germany (2018)

Speaker, “Ten in Thirty” – Ten 2018 Cases You Need to Know in Thirty Minutes,” Munich, Germany (2018)

Speaker, “Practical Pointers for Deposition Preparation & Testimony,” London, England (2018)

Speaker, “Financial and Securities Litigation Update: Trending, Scandals and More,” Munich, Germany (2012)

Speaker, “Emerging Trends and Targets in U.S. Class Action Litigation,” Munich, Germany (2012)

Speaker, “Connecting the Dots: Insurance Coverage for Corporate Successors,” Munich, Germany (2011)

Speaker, “Hydraulic Fracturing: Tolerate, Regulate or Litigate?,” Munich, Germany (2011)

Speaker, “Developments and Trends in U.S. Securities and Class Action Litigation,” Munich, Germany (2010)

Speaker, “What’s Hot and What’s in Store in theWorld of Claims,” Munich, Germany (2010)

Speaker, “Navigating a New Wave of Product Liability Claims,” Munich, Germany (2009)

Speaker, “Implication of Aggregation in Insurance and Reinsurance Disputes,” (June 2009)

Speaker, “Consider Yourself Warned! Federal Preemption of State Prescription Drug Claims and its Potential Impact on Product Liability Claims and Insurance,” Munich, Germany (2008)

Speaker, “Subprime, Auction Rate Securities and Credit Crisis: Update & Emerging Issues,” New York, New York (2008)

Publications and Presentations

Author, “Navigating the Wave of Water Contamination Claims: Analysis of City of New York v. Amerada Hess Corp. and Its Implications for Other Water Contamination Claims,” Environmental Claims Journal, 22: 1,17-26. (2010)

Author, “Neue Welle von Produkthaftpflichtklagen wegen ‘Chinese Drywall ’ in den USA?” PHi, Nr. 1/2010. (2010)

Author, “US Supreme Court and Democrat Lawmakers Breath New Life Into Product Liability Claims,” Financier Worldwide Magazine (June 2009)

Author, “Auction Rate Securities Overview & Emerging Issues,” White Paper (July 2008)

Awards and Honors

Recipient, Saint Thomas More Medal, Seton Hall University School of Law (2018)

Selected by “Leading Women Entrepreneurs” as one of New Jersey’s 2017 Top 25 Leading Women Intrapreneurs and Corporate Leaders.

Selected for inclusion in Global Law Experts in 2017

Named as a leading attorney by the Guide to the World’s Leading Insurance & Reinsurance Lawyers in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Named a New Jersey Super Lawyer (2006, 2007, 2009-2024). (This list is published by Super Lawyers.  Their selection methodology is available here.  No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.)

Selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America©(2020-2025). Their selection methodology is available here.  No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.)

Recognized as a leading lawyer in Who’s Who Legal: Insurance & Reinsurance (2014-2021) Their selection methodology is available here.  (No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.)

Selected for inclusion in the Guide to the World’s Leading Women in Business Law in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Selected as a Leader Among Women and Minorities in New Jersey by the New Jersey Law Journal.

Memberships

Member, International Association of Defense Counsel

Fellow, American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel

Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America

Member, Association for Professional Insurance Women (APIW)

Member, Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS)

Member, ARIAS

Member, New Jersey Bar Association

Member, International Bar Association

Member, American Bar Association

Co-Chair, London Subcommittee of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee (Litigation Section)

Founding member Coughlin Midlige & Garland’s Women’s Initiative Group

News

350 Mount Kemble Avenue
P.O. Box 1917
Morristown, NJ 07962
Direct (973) 631-6006
Fax (973) 267-6442
Services
Education
  • Seton Hall University (J.D., 1991)
  • Muhlenberg College (A.B., 1984)
Professional Admissions
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2002)
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (2001)
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (2023)
  • United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1991)
  • State of New Jersey (1991)