Member Litigation Updates

This webpage provides Academy members with updates regarding a lawsuit that Mark Freedman, former president of the Society of Actuaries, has filed seeking to halt the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD) from considering complaints against him, as initially reported in the December 2014 issue of Actuarial Update.

April 2, 2015

• On Monday, March 31, Mark Freedman, former president of the SOA, filed a voluntary motion to dismiss the remaining claim alleging defamation pending in Circuit Court, Cook County, Illinois against Tom Terry. The motion requires presentment to and approval of a judge, which is pro forma but required and scheduled for April 7.  On February 24,  2015, Judge Peter Flynn dismissed  all other claims against the Academy. This withdrawal of the remaining defamation claim against Tom Terry as an individual brings to a close all claims against any party related to the Academy.  Dismissal of the specific counts against the Academy, and now the withdrawal of the specific count against Tom Terry reaffirm the validity and vitality of the profession’s self-disciplinary process.

March 6, 2015

• The transcript of the court proceedings on Feb. 24, 2015, is now available. On that date, Judge Peter Flynn of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, dismissed without prejudice all claims against the Academy—including any claims for injunctive or declaratory relief—that had been filed in December by a former president of the Society of Actuaries. 
  
  During the proceedings, Judge Flynn said that the “plaintiff’s position apparently is that his agreement to the procedures set forth in the bylaws of the organizations for the activities of the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline only applies if he likes what the Board is doing. … Our court system is inclined not to want to overturn contractually agreed upon alternative dispute resolution mechanisms without some reason to do it.” 
  
  In dismissing the case, the court strongly affirmed that the U.S. actuarial profession may require members to have disciplinary complaints heard by the ABCD and not by the courts.

Feb. 24, 2015

• On Feb. 24, 2015, Judge Peter Flynn of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, dismissed without prejudice all claims against the Academy, including any claims for injunctive or declaratory relief, that were filed in December by the former president of the Society of Actuaries. We are pleased with this outcome. The court has strongly affirmed that the U.S. actuarial profession may require members to have disciplinary complaints heard by the ABCD and not by the courts. The Academy leadership views this ruling as a vindication of the profession’s self-discipline process.
  
  The court did not rule on the motion to dismiss the remaining claims in the case because it lacked jurisdiction to address them. The remaining claims were transferred to a different division of the Cook County Circuit Court, and the motions to dismiss those claims will be heard in due course.

Feb. 13, 2015

• On Friday, Feb. 13, 2015, the Academy filed this latest Reply in support of our Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit filed by SOA Past President Mark Freedman seeking to halt the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD) from considering complaints against him, as initially reported in the December 2014 issue of Actuarial Update.

Jan. 16, 2015
 

• A motion to dismiss the lawsuit served against the Academy by Mark Freedman, past president of the Society of Actuaries, was filed Jan. 14, 2015, by the Academy in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill. The Motion and Memorandum in support of the motion may be accessed here and here.

 
Jan. 9, 2015
 

• The Academy has filed an Opposition to the lawsuit served against the Academy by Mark Freedman, former president of the SOA. So that our members may be kept informed, we are posting our Opposition filing to Freedman’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction to our website here.