Why It Matters
Zurich American Insurance Co. is among the organizations associated with H.R.1109, the Litigation Transparency Act of 2025, whose latest recorded action is a committee consideration and markup session held on Nov. 19, 2025. The bill would require parties in a civil action to disclose any person, other than counsel, who holds a contingent right to payment from the case's outcome, and to produce the underlying agreement.
By the Numbers
Zurich American Insurance Co.'s third-quarter 2026 report lists $550,000 in in-house lobbying expenses. Two outside firms, Invariant LLC at $60,000 and Tiber Creek Group Inc. at $50,000, bring Zurich's combined third-quarter 2026 total to $660,000, up $70,000 from the second-quarter combined total of $590,000.
The in-house filing names five lobbyists:
- Gary Whidby, assistant vice president, federal affairs
- Marcel Caldwell, operations director, government and regulatory relations (House Appropriations Committee staff, 115th–117th Congresses)
- Jeff Sands, assistant vice president, federal affairs (former staff to Rep. Ted S. Yoho, R-FL-3)
- Gregg Sheiowitz, vice president (former staff to Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-NY-14)
- David Mork, assistant vice president
Broader Context
Sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA-48), H.R.1109 was introduced Feb. 7, 2025, and carries 29 Republican cosponsors. A coalition letter organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsed the bill in April 2025; signatories included Zurich North America, Allstate, Chubb, Liberty Mutual, State Farm, Travelers, and trade groups including the American Property Casualty Insurance Association and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, arguing that secrecy around third-party litigation funding enables funder influence, inflated settlements, and foreign exploitation of the courts. Tea Party Patriots Action urged the House Judiciary Committee to reject H.R. 1109, according to a November 2025 Fox News report.
Separately, S.1821, introduced by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), and its House companion, H.R.3512, introduced May 20, 2025, by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK-1), would impose a federal tax on third-party litigation funders' profits at the top individual income tax rate plus 3.8 percentage points; both sit in committee with no floor action recorded. A coalition of 18 consumer and taxpayer groups wrote to Congress in May 2025 supporting the tax, citing a Westfleet Advisors 2024 market report putting the industry at $16.1 billion annually and a Joint Committee on Taxation estimate that the change would raise $3.5 billion over 10 years.
Zurich also lists H.R. 5839, the Supplemental Benefits for Individuals Act of 2025, which Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH-12) introduced on Oct. 28, 2025. The bill would allow certain supplemental health coverage to be classified as an "excepted benefit" under the Public Health Service Act, and it was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Competitive Landscape
Other organizations lobbying H.R.1109 include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Trucking Associations Inc., Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America Inc., Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., and the International Legal Finance Association.
Organizations also on record lobbying H.R.3512 include Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America Inc., Chubb INA Holdings Inc., Liberty Mutual Group Inc., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.
The Bottom Line
H.R.1109 held a committee markup session on November 19, 2025, and its status is listed as "In Committee."
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