Max B. Chester focuses his practice on litigation and arbitration of domestic and international commercial business disputes and government enforcement actions, primarily in the areas of insurance and reinsurance, financial fraud, securities enforcement and FCPA. He is a partner in the firm’s Insurance and Reinsurance Litigation Practice Group and the International Arbitration Team.
Representative Experience
- FCPA compliance review for a Fortune 50 company in Russia and Kazakhstan.
- FCPA counseling of U.S. entities establishing operations in Russia and Ukraine.
- Representation of a Ukrainian company in litigation in California state and federal courts against the company’s former U.S.-based financial agent.
- Representation of a European reinsurer in arbitration of a multimillion-dollar claim made by an insolvent U.S. ceding company regarding a finite risk treaty.
- Representation of a U.S. financial services company in arbitration with a foreign reinsurer regarding payment of excise taxes.
- Representation of a U.S. state association covering birth-related injuries in arbitration with a reinsurer regarding mandatory commutation of the reinsurance agreement.
- Representation of a Bolivian insurance company in Florida state court to recover damages from payments made under insurance bonds for a US$78m construction project in Bolivia.
- Representation of a publicly traded company in the SEC’s investigation and related securities class actions regarding the company’s ownership of an entity that specialized in investment in and securitization of credit sensitive residential mortgage assets.
- Internal investigations for privately held and publicly traded clients.
Affiliations
- Member, State Bar of Wisconsin
Pro Bono
Max is also active in pro bono matters. He won political asylum after a trial in the United States Immigration Court in Chicago for a refugee from Iran who was persecuted for converting from Islam and becoming a member of a Bahai faith. He represented an elderly Holocaust survivor in a claims proceeding before the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Max volunteers in the Milwaukee Justice Center and through the American Bar Association (ABA) site, www.ABAFreeLegalAnswers.org, to provide answers to legal questions posed by low-income individuals. The ABA has recognized Max as the ABA Free Legal Answers 2021 and 2023 Pro Bono Leader for his extraordinary pro bono services through the ABA Free Legal Answers website.
Languages
- Russian (native speaker)
- Ukrainian (fluent)