2022 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA
Rose Charles Senior vice president, head of casualty, auto and environmental claims for North American insurance
Sompo International Holdings Ltd.
New Hyde Park, New York
Rose Charles recalls being a 12-year-old Haitian immigrant watching Claire Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” a Black female lawyer, and thinking: “That could be me.”
The dream came true.
She’s now an in-house litigator for insurer Sompo International, after serving as the first Black female partner of Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLC, of which Sompo was a client.
The hurdles over the years were plenty. For example, it’s not common in Haitian culture for a young woman to leave home to study — a priest at church had to speak with her father, a conversation that led her to Boston University on a full scholarship. From there, she enrolled in St. John’s University School of Law in New York; while there, she worked as a legal aid for a small insurance defense firm, whose leader told her to “go bigger.”
It’s that encouragement she received along the way that drives her to offer the same for others. From mentoring younger associates to helping her children navigate college choices, and regularly volunteering to speak at elementary schools to encourage mostly children of immigrants, it is about paying it forward.
“I am mindful that without the sponsorship that I was able to have in my life, I wouldn’t be here. So, I intentionally make it a point to help others,” she said.
Ms. Charles is known for her empathy, applying a gentle touch to some of the most challenging legal proceedings. “Painful situations” that bring people to file lawsuits are her specialty.
“Part of my job is to get them to resolution on sometimes really bad facts, and there’s a lot of pain behind that, and I have to be able to find a way to bridge that pain.”
It’s her humanity that stands out for Daniel Berman, chairman and co-founder of Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP, who has worked with Ms. Charles for a decade.
“She connects with people incredibly well,” he said. “She has a great legal mind, and a strong sense of when you need to use empathy. … That’s why she is so successful.”
