Overview
Austin B. Neal is a partner and business lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP. His practice is focused primarily upon corporate and transactional representation of domestic and international insurers and reinsurers, including the Corporation of Lloyd’s and various insurers and reinsurers in the London market. Austin's experience includes representing those entities and other financial service clients in regulatory, administrative, legislative and transactional matters. He is a member of the firm's Insurance & Reinsurance Industry Team.
Representative Transactions
- Represented the Corporation of Lloyd’s and members of the U.S. and London surplus lines insurance market in the passage of legislation to address the 2008 decision of the Florida Supreme Court in Essex and managed a coordinated defense of more than 30 members of the London market in related federal court class action litigation
- Obtained approval and secured licensure of the first wind-only commercial property insurer licensed in the State of Florida and negotiated the first quota share reinsurance/assumption of commercial property insurance policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation
- Represented the British United Provident Association and its affiliates in obtaining Florida licensure of Bupa Insurance Limited and in subsequently obtaining offshore insurer exemptions for numerous Bupa companies domesticated in Latin America
- Represented Main Street America Group in its redomestication to Florida and subsequent mutual holding company conversion
Recognition
Austin has been peer review rated as BV Distinguished®, a mark of excellence in the Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ system.
Austin was listed in the 2010 – 2023 editions of Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers in the practice area of insurance. He has also been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© since 2013 in the field of Insurance Law and was named the Best Lawyers® 2021 and 2015 Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Tallahassee. In 2015 and 2016, Austin was recognized in The Legal 500 for his work in insurance - non-contentious.
Education
Austin is a graduate of Florida State University College of Law (J.D., with high honors, 1994) and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University.
Admissions and Professional Memberships
Austin is a member of The Florida Bar, the American Bar Association, and the Tallahassee Bar Association. He is admitted to practice before the United States District Court, Northern District of Florida, and the United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.