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Insurance attorney Sol Kroll dies at 94

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Insurance attorney Sol Kroll dies at 94

Prominent insurance attorney Sol Kroll, well known for his 30-year tradition of hosting the opening cocktail party at the annual Rendez-vous de Septembre reinsurance conference in Monte Carlo, died last month at age 94.

As an insurance lawyer for 71 years, he worked closely with Lloyd's of London and was the first U.S. general counsel to the Institute of London Underwriters. He also represented France in negotiating insurance aspects of tax treaties with the United States and Sweden in major insurance merger and acquisition transactions.

Among his most prominent cases, Mr. Kroll represented a hospital in Bing v. Thunig, where the New York Court of Appeals eliminated the concept of charitable immunity in the state of New York.

Forty-four years ago, Mr. Kroll pioneered the concept of multistate law firms which are commonplace today. He also pioneered the concept of claims made insurance.

He served 20 years as director of the Insurance Federation of New York and, at the time of his death, remained a director emeritus. He also was an elector to the Insurance Hall of Fame.

“This brilliant, multitalented, erudite, gracious, tough as nails but sweet as sugar, full of mischief, master of the universe was a unique individual possessed of an indomitable spirit who rose to great success personally and professionally,” said his family in a statement.

According to the family statement, Mr. Kroll, who arrived in the United Sates as a young child through Ellis Island, helped open up the English, Japanese and European insurance marketplaces for American lawyers.

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According to his obituary in the New York Law Journal, Mr. Kroll helped found law firm Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker L.L.P., then left in 1979 to found the now-defunct Kroll & Tract.

Mr. Kroll was the father of four, a grandfather and a great-grandfather, according to the family's statement. His children include attorney Elliott M. Kroll, a partner with law firm Arent Fox L.L.P. in New York. He was a sculptor and a poet, said the family in the statement, and for decades he was chairman of the U.S. Friends of the London Symphony chorus.