Assaph Aharoni

Safi Aharoni is a Principal in Bates White’s Mass Torts Practice. His primary expertise is in matters related to insurance and reinsurance litigation stemming from long-tail liabilities such as asbestos claims and environmental losses. He has also worked on cases involving bankruptcy, business interruption insurance, class actions, television broadcast royalties, and competitive benchmarking. He has considerable experience supporting expert witnesses, as well as leading consulting teams that assist clients with settlement and mediation. Mr. Aharoni specializes in building models and designing solutions to complex data challenges via software development, data visualization, and statistical analysis.

BA, Mathematics, University of Pennsylvania (magna cum laude)

• Supporting testifying expert in assessing the value of pending and future asbestos-related personal injury claims on behalf of the Debtors in In re Aldrich Pump LLC, et al.
• Co-authored expert report assessing allocation of asbestos tort losses and trust losses to two insurance policies, as well as the present value of any obligations.
• In numerous cases, built complex allocation models involving tens of thousands of potential scenarios on behalf of both insurers and policyholders. Developed software to model allocation methodologies, noncumulation, multiple-occurrence theories, diverse per occurrence and aggregate limit definitions, and other choice-of-law questions. Compiled models into dynamic litigation risk assessment tools used to weight scenarios and calculate expected recoveries or obligations.
• Supported testifying expert in rebutting all sums insurance allocation calculations on behalf of a joint defense group of insurers in Continental Casualty Co. v. BorgWarner Inc.
• On behalf of CarGurus, co-authored a white paper on US vehicle listing platforms. Led the team that analyzed vehicle inventory, dealer presence, and deal ratings using state-of-the-art data science tools to process longitudinal data comprising billions of records.
• Routinely lead teams in compiling robust asbestos claims databases and future expenditure extrapolations as part of assessing potential tort and bankruptcy liabilities.
• Developed insurance allocation model on behalf of an insurer seeking to estimate its potential obligations related to underlying coal ash remediation payments.
• Led team in preparing an analysis of class certification and potential damages under a putative class action arising from a professional liability allegation.
• Supported testifying expert in rebutting damages calculations in a reinsurance arbitration on behalf of a large international insurance company. Assessed arguments regarding allegedly inappropriate cession of risk to facultative reinsurance within the framework of a reinsurance treaty.
• Led team in analyzing historical and future asbestos and mixed-dust liabilities on behalf of an insurer. Developed complex insurance allocation model implementing disease-specific forecasts and exposure distributions.
• Supported experts testifying before the Copyright Royalty Board on relative market value of programming provided on distant broadcast signals in In re Distribution of 2010–2013 Cable Royalty Funds.
• Provided estimate for property damage and business interruption insurance recoveries on behalf of a large private research institution. Developed model allowing optimal choice for losses covered under multiple policy provisions.
• Assist various publicly traded companies with estimating future product liabilities and concomitant insurance receivables for use in SEC financial reporting disclosures such as 10-Ks and 10-Qs.