DRI Faculty List

Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium

Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel | New York, NY | December 5 - 6, 2019


Sherry L. Anderson, CPCU, RPLU
Sentry Insurance Company

Sherry L. Anderson, CPCU, RPLU Senior Director, Corporate Technical Claims, Sentry Insurance a Mutual Company, has 40 years experience in insurance claims. She has had prior employment with Liberty Mutual, Allstate and CNA. She has claims experience in Workers' Compensation, Personal Lines Auto/Homeowners, Professional Liability, Directors & Officers, Ocean Marine, and Reinsurance. She currently manages at Sentry the complex/high exposure claims oversite team, claim standards and quality audit, compliance, and the Staff Counsel operations. She is a member of CPCU and DRI. She is current co-chair of the Claims Committee of the American Property & Casualty Insurance Association.


Lowell Aptman
Managing VP, Casualty Claims Executive
AmTrust Financial Services


Bryana L. Blessinger
Shareholder
Markowitz Herbold PC

Bryana L. Blessinger is with Markowitz Herbold PC located in Portland, Oregon. As a civil litigator in Oregon and Washington Bryana handles complex first and third party insurance coverage matters including extra-contractual bad faith claims, property loss, directors and officers (D&O), professional negligence, product defect, and crime coverage. Bryana also defends general tort actions, with an emphasis on property loss, professional malpractice, and employment law claims. Throughout her career, Bryana has tried more than 30 cases to verdict.


James W. Bryan
Member
Nexsen Pruet LLC

James W. Bryan has been practicing law for 29 years and is a Member with the Greensboro office of the Nexsen Pruet law firm. He practices in the area of civil litigation with a concentration in insurance coverage, bad faith litigation, tort litigation, trucking industry defense, commercial litigation, and environmental law. He is a Fellow in the American College of Coverage and Extra-contractual Counsel. He has held several leadership positions in DRI, and currently is a member of the Insurance Law Committee and the current Chair for its First Party Property subcommittee. Jim is the Vice-Chair of the Council of the Insurance Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association and was President of the Greensboro Bar Association.Jim is the Prorgam Chair of the 2019 Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium


William A. Bulfer
Teague Campbell Dennis & Gorham LLP

William A. Bulfer of Teague Campbell Dennis & Gorham focuses his practice on insurance coverage and complex litigation involving commercial liability, commercial auto, and professional liability policies. He regularly provides coverage opinions, litigates declaratory judgment actions, and provides legal advice with regard to the creation of coverage documents. Bill concentrates on the acute risk associated with a particular claim, while remaining true to the core values of the clients with whom he works, providing a roadmap for proper claims handling and avoidance of extra contractual risk. He utilizes his liability experience to better understand the practical impact of coverage advice he provides.


Kenneth P. Carter, CPCU
VP - Claim Operations
Merchants Insurance Group

Kenneth P. Carter, CPCU is Vice President of Claim Operations at Merchants Insurance. Mr. Carter has 29 years' experience in the insurance industry, beginning as an adjuster and moving into various management roles. He graduated from the University of Rochester with bachelor's degrees in philosophy and cognitive science, and from Medaille College with a Master's degree in Organizational Leadership. He holds the CPCU designation, and is actively involved in several insurance, claims, and legal professional organizations, often assuming board positions, teaching continuing education courses, and authoring articles for industry publications. Mr. Carter is an adjunct professor of management and organizational leadership.


Mark E. Cohen
Senior Partner
McDonough Cohen & Masalek LLP

Mark E. Cohen is a partner in the Boston law firm McDonough Cohen & Maselek. For more than 30 years Mark has specialized in professional liability coverage matters. Mark has expertise in numerous types of professional liability policies. Mark has a national practice counselling insurers in coverage matters and litigating and arbitrating coverage disputes. Mark also has drafted many professional liability insurance policies and endorsements. Mark served as the Editor – in – Chief of DRI's Professional Liability Coverage Compendium, which was published in 2014. Mark also has served as an arbitrator in coverage disputes.


Karen M. Dixon
Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP

Karen M. Dixon of Skarzynski Marick & Black devotes her practice to counseling insurers on complex insurance coverage issues and litigating matters on their behalf. Her counseling practice is focused on advising an insurer throughout the claim handling process. Karen has substantial experience in advising clients on making coverage determinations, drafting coverage position letters, selecting defense counsel, and coordinating cost share agreements. Karen addresses coverage issues for underlying claims ranging from toxic torts and pollution losses to invasion of privacy and sexual abuse claims. Her practice includes advising insurers under various liability policies, including commercial general liability, excess, professional, and workers compensation and employers liability.


Julian D. Ehrlich
Sr. Vice President
Aon

Julian D. Ehrlich has been Senior Vice President, Claims at Aon's Construction Services Group in New York for over 10 years, he was previously Claims Counsel for AIG's Construction Risk Division and practiced law for 17 years, his articles on coverage, insurance and liability issues have appeared regularly in the New York Law Journal and other publications for over 20 years and he is a Past President of the Defense Association of New York, DRI's SLDO.


F. Lane Finch, Jr.
Partner
Swift Currie McGhee & Hiers LLP

F. Lane Finch, Jr. provides insurance coverage advice, defends bad faith claims, and litigates first and third-party claims in federal and state court. He manages the Alabama office of Swift Currie, a 150-attorney firm focused solely on insurance law and litigation. Lane is the Chair of DRI's Insurance Law Committee and is very active in DRI programming and leadership. He also writes and presents frequently on insurance coverage and litigation issues to national audiences of attorneys, in-house counsel and claim executives.


Laura A. Foggan
Partner
Crowell & Moring LLP

Laura A. Foggan chairs Crowell & Moring's Insurance/Reinsurance Group. She is a nationally-recognized insurer counsel for precedential, high-dollar and complex insurance disputes. Ms. Foggan has participated in 200+ appeals in federal and state courts nationwide. She counsels insurers on strategic opportunities, litigation trends, and emerging risks, such as privacy, cyber, autonomous vehicles, drones, internet-of-things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and utilization of blockchain. Ms. Foggan's experience includes CGL, D&O, professional liability, product liability, property, and cyber liability, reservations of rights, policy conditions/exclusions, rescission, and bad faith. She is "Band 1" Chambers-ranked and included in the Best Lawyers in America directory, among many other honors.


Matthew S. Foy
Partner
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP

Matthew S. Foy is a partner in the San Francisco office of Gordon & Rees LLP and serves as the national practice group leader for the firm's property and casualty insurance practice group. Mr. Foy represents insurers nationally in connection with coverage litigation, trial, and advice involving primary and excess liability policies with an emphasis on complex Coverage B, mass tort, directors and officers, professional liability, and environmental matters. Mr. Foy was the former Chair of the Insurance Law Committee of DRI.


Aaron D. French
Sandberg Phoenix & Von Gontard PC

Aaron D. French of Sandberg & Von Gontard P.C. focuses on representing insurers in coverage and extra-contractual cases, providing clients in-depth analysis relating to complicated factual scenarios and complex legal issues. An experienced AV-rated litigator, Aaron has successfully represented clients at all levels in both state and federal courts in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. Aaron currently serves as a member of his firm's Executive Committee and Chair of the Insurance Team. He has been named a Top Rated Lawyer by the National Law Journal, a Legal Leader in Insurance Law by The American Lawyer, and a Missouri Super Lawyer.


JoAnne B. Gilliam
Senior Corporate Counsel
American Modern Insurance Group

JoAnne B. Gilliam is Senior Corporate Counsel of American Modern Insurance Group, a subsidiary of the Munich Re group of companies. She provides legal support for the Litigation and Financial Institutions divisions of the Claims Department and the Compliance Department. JoAnne is a longtime member of DRI and the Cincinnati Bar Association. She is licensed to practice law in California, Ohio, and Hawaii.


James D. Hicks
Foley & Mansfield PLLP

James D. Hicks, an attorney in Foley & Mansfield's Seattle office, focuses his practice on personal injury, products liability, real estate, and insurance coverage. As an experienced trial lawyer, he has successfully guided his clients through all phases of litigation, mediation, and arbitration. Jim serves as a court-appointed Arbitrator for the Mandatory Arbitration programs for several Washington state counties, and has handled more than 30 arbitrations. He also serves as a Hearing Officer for the Washington State Bar Association. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and has a M.A. from Fordham University, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.


Joanne M. Locke
Senior Corporate Counsell
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company

Joanne M. Locke is Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company in Boston and manages its Corporate Legal Coverage Group, which provides advice to Liberty's Global Risk Solutions and Global Retail Markets business units on coverage and related issues. Ms Locke's team of 27 attorneys works closely with internal clients and outside counsel on all types of domestic coverage litigation. In addition, Ms. Locke participates on several internal committees and coordinates coverage matters on enterprise-wide exposures. Ms. Locke is a member of the American Law Institute.


Kim V. Marrkand
Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC

Kim V. Marrkand of Mintz Levin Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. is founder and Chair of the firm's Insurance Practice. She specializes in representing and advising insurers and reinsurers on business and legal implications of a variety of complex coverage issues. Her breadth of experience includes representing insurers with respect to coverage issues involving pollution, environmental, bad faith, tobacco, construction defect, product liability, directors and officers, bankruptcy, asbestos, and emerging risks. Her practice includes representing insurers in state, bankruptcy, and federal courts across the country. She frequently speaks and writes on coverage issues and has been a contributor to American Law Institute with respect to the first Restatement of the Law, Liability Insurance.


Robert S. (Bob) Marshall
Partner
Nicolaides Fink Thorpe Michaelides Sullivan LLP

Robert S. (Bob) Marshall of Nicolaides Fink Thorpe Michaelides Sullivan LLP represents and counsels the insurance industry in multiple lines of business. After beginning his career defending insureds, Bob has devoted his practice for the last 23 years on complex insurance coverage disputes, including the representation of insurers in courts, arbitrations and mediations across the United States. He regularly handles matters involving general and excess liability, commercial auto and trucking liability, professional liability, commercial property coverage, and extra-contractual exposure. His practice includes advising clients with respect to compliance with insurance regulations, drafting policy language, as well as providing in house training for claims and underwriting professionals


Kathleen J. (Kathy) Maus
Partner
Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

Kathleen J. (Kathy) Maus a partner of Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP, is active in her firm's bad faith, casualty, and first/third party insurance coverage practices. She is a recognized Super Lawyer in Insurance Coverage and a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer. Her memberships are varied, including Past Board Member of the Defense Research Institute. Kathy is an author and served as a speaker at numerous seminars on issues including first and third party coverage and bad faith.


Daniel L. Mayer
Vice President, Claims
AmeriTrust Group

Daniel L. Mayer is the Chief Claims Counsel and Vice President of Claims for AmeriTrust Group, Inc. where he advises the company on claims-related legal issues, manages legal spending for the claims department, and oversees teams of internal coverage attorneys and complex claims adjusters. In the past, he has worked as a Director of Large Loss Commercial Claims for Nationwide Insurance and a practicing attorney for several law firms. He is experienced in managing coverage disputes, extra-contractual exposures, and high-exposure commercial casualty claims both as an attorney and a claims professional.


Lynn Menschenfreund
Hallmark Financial Services Inc

Lynn Menschenfreund is VP-Claims Counsel for Hallmark Financial Services, where she provides guidance and oversight on appeals, mediations and trials for all business lines. Ms. Menschenfreund has over 30 years of experience as a lawyer and senior claim executive, handling severity, complex and specialty claims. She has served as VP and SVP for several major global carriers, leading teams of adjusters handling excess, environmental, construction, multinational and medical malpractice claims. Ms. Menschenfreund is a graduate of Rutgers University and Seton Hall School of Law, where she was a Member and Survey Editor of the Seton Hall Law Review.


Patrick K. Nails
EVP, Chief Claims Officer
Arch Insurance Group Inc

Patrick K. Nails is the Chief Claims Officer and General Counsel for the Arch Insurance Group Inc. Pat joined Arch in April 2004 and held a number of positions in legal, claims and reinsurance before being named General Counsel in 2012. He subsequently added the role of Chief Claims Officer in April 2018. Prior to joining Arch Pat spent ten years at the Kemper Insurance Companies and five years in private practice in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. He received his B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois and his J.D. from the Chicago-Kent College of Law.


Cory J. Person
Hill Ward Henderson

Cory J. Personis a shareholder with Hill Ward Henderson, practicing in the firm's litigation and Employment Law groups. His practice is primarily focused on the defense of products liability, premises liability, negligent security, general negligence and complex tort claims. Mr. Person also has extensive experience representing employers in litigation arising out of discrimination, harassing and non-competition agreements and has been recognized as a Florida Super Lawyer Rising Star (2015), Florida Super Lawyer (2016 & 2017) and as Florida Legal Elite (2018) in the area of civil litigation. He currently serves as a Board Director of the Hillsborough County Bar Association and is a two-term past president of the George Edgecomb Bar Association.


Jessica M. Phillips
Swift Currie McGhee & Hiers LLP

Jessica M. Phillips of Swift Currie McGhee & Hiers, LLP is a Partner in the firm's coverage and commercial litigation team. She has assisted clients in evaluating coverage issues ranging from policy exclusions and sources of loss to arson, application fraud and claim fraud. She is well versed on Georgia law regarding contractual defenses, mortgagee rights, suit limitation defenses, noncooperation defenses and first-party bad faith claims. She evaluates coverage issues under policies such as homeowners, inland marine, builders risk, renters and valuable articles. She has taken numerous EUOs and depositions; defends clients in litigation relating to policy provisions, including appraisal and "suit against us" provisions. She assists clients in evaluating the value of losses, including replacement cost value, actual cash value and additional living expenses.


Joanna M. Roberto
Partner
Gerber Ciano Kelly Brady LLP

Joanna M. Roberto of Gerber Ciano Kelly Brady, LLP concentrates her practice in complex insurance coverage and commercial litigation. She serves as counsel for multi-national insurers and litigates all phases of DJ actions including international arbitrations. She counsels clients on risk management, underwriting and claims practices. She is the CLE Chair for the Torts Insurance and Compensation Law Section of the NYS Bar Association and served as commentator for Mealey's Litigation Reports. Joanna is multi-lingual, studied and worked in Italy and has a degree in linguistics. She is familiar with and appreciates international claims practices because of her experience in handling claims in South America and Europe.


Thomas P. Scrivo
O'Toole Scrivo LLC

Thomas P. Scrivois a Managing Partner of the firm O'Toole Scrivo. Mr. Scrivo is certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Civil Trial Attorney and has been listed as one of New Jersey's Top 100 Lawyers in Super Lawyers®, a Thomson Reuters business. From 2005 through 2015, and beginning again in 2018, Mr. Scrivo has been listed in Super Lawyers® in the areas of Business Litigation and State, Local & Municipal. (No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court.) In 2016 and 2017, Mr. Scrivo was listed as No. 16 in the NJBIZ Power 100: the 100 most powerful people in New Jersey and No. 15 (2016) and No. 35 (2017) in the PolitickerNJ Power List. Mr. Scrivo served as Chief Counsel to Governor Chris Christie from 2015 to 2017. As Chief Counsel, Mr. Scrivo was responsible for leading the Governor's legislative initiatives, supervising gubernatorial appointments, and overseeing New Jersey's Executive Branch, including all state departments and authorities. Mr. Scrivo represents employers' interests in employment discrimination claims involving race, sex, religion, age, handicap or sexual orientation. He regularly handles cases involving wrongful discharge, retaliation, breach of contract, whistleblowing, and related claims.


Scott M. Seaman
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Scott M. Seaman Co-Chair of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP's national Insurance Services Practice Group. For 31 years, he has represented insurers as national, trial, and appellate counsel before courts/arbitration panels across the country in high stakes general liability, professional liability, first-party property coverage, bad faith, and reinsurance matters. He is a prolific author/speaker recognized in Chambers USA; The Best Lawyers in America; Euromoney's World's Leading Insurance/Reinsurance Lawyers; Illinois Super Lawyers; Leading Lawyers; and International Who's Who of Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers. He is 2018 Finance Monthly's Insurance & Reinsurance Lawyer of the Year USA and is a fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel.


Christopher T. (Chris) Sheean
Partner
Swanson Martin & Bell LLP

Christopher T. (Chris) Sheean is a partner at Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP in the Chicago office where he practices in commercial, products liability and intellectual property litigation. He is a past chair of the DRI Commercial Litigation Committee, and is a frequent author and lecturer on products liability, class actions, trade secrets and unfair competition for various publications. Chris is also chair of his firm's Class Action Practice Group. As lead trial counsel, Chris has handled trials throughout the country. He currently serves as a member of the DRI Law Institute and is also an adjunct professor at Northwestern University Law School where e teeaches trial advocacy.


Catalina J. Sugayan
Partner
Clyde & Co US LLP

Catalina J. Sugayan is a partner in Chicago office of Clyde & Co US LLP. She represents domestic and international insurers in insurance coverage and bad faith matters, including those arising out of sexual abuse, municipal and school liability, police misconduct, sports injuries, employment and professional liability. She has litigated coverage in several State and Federal trial and appellate courts and in Bankruptcy Courts in matters involving duty to defend, indemnity for loss, allocation, limits, intentional acts, claims made issues, other insurance, additional insureds and lost policies. She has negotiated global settlements and insurance buy-back agreements in complex matters and is frequent speaker/author on insurance topics.


Melisa G. Thompson
Dir. & Sr. Counsel Complex Claims
Markel Corporation

Melisa G. Thompson was previously in private practice litigating commercial and personal injury matters, including insurance defense and insurance coverage cases. She now handles complex casualty claims for Markel Service, Incorporated. Her claims span many subject matters, including product liability, trucking, pharmaceutical, construction, sexual abuse, wildfires, and municipal liability.


John C. Trimble
Firm Counsel
Lewis Wagner LLP

John C. Trimble is a partner in the Indianapolis firm of Lewis Wagner, LLP. His practice is the defense of catastrophic and complex insurance coverage claims in Indiana and nationally. He is a past board member of DRI and a past-chair of the DRI Law Practice Management Committee. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel. John lectures regularly across the country on metrics, legal billing, and law practice management. He also writes a column for the Indiana Lawyer newspaper entitled, "Eye on the Profession."


Rosa M. Tumialán
Partner
Dykema Gossett PLLC

Rosa M. Tumialán is a member of Dykema Gossett, PLLC's Chicago Litigation group and an appellate practitioner resident in the firm's Chicago office. Ms. Tumialán focuses her practice on complex commercial disputes and insurance coverage litigation involving both personal and commercial lines. Ms. Tumialán has also developed an expertise in defending both insurers and individual defendants in class actions alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Biometric Information Privacy Act. Ms. Tumialán's experience in representing clients in numerous these cases has made her a lead defense attorney in this area who develops and employs unique and aggressive strategies.


Debra T. Varner
Director
Varner and Van Volkenburg PLLC

Debra T. Varner has over twenty-five years handling high profile liability, insurance coverage and bad faith cases in West Virginia state courts, federal courts and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a founding member of Varner & VanVolkenburg, PLLC. Debra is a member of the FDCC, she is a Fellow in the American College of Coverage Counsel and is a member of its Board of Directors. She is a member of DRI. Debra has been named a SuperLawyer in Insurance Coverage and "Lawyer of the Year" by BestLawyers©.


Brenda K. Wallrichs
Attorney
Lederer Weston Craig PLC

Brenda K. Wallrichs was admitted to the Iowa Bar in 1995, Brenda K. Wallrichs practices law in the areas of insurance coverage, insurance bad faith, appellate practice, automobile liability, insurance defense, civil litigation, municipal law, and products liability. She earned her J.D. from the University of Iowa in 1995 and her Bachelor's degree from Drake University in 1992. Wallrichs is a Fellow in the American College of Coverage Counsel (ACCC) and a member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC). She is also a member of the Defense Research Institute (DRI), where she is active in the Insurance Law Committee and serves on its Steering Committee, Seminar Planning and Marketing Committees, as its Online Community Chair and as its Social Media Chair. She is Vice-Chair of DRI's Insurance Roundtable in 2017. Wallrichs' other professional affiliations include the Iowa Defense Counsel Association, the Iowa State Bar Association and the Linn County Bar Association. Wallrichs additionally serves on the Risk Management Advisory Committee for the City of Cedar Rapids and as Parish Council President for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. She recently completed a six year term as a Commissioner of the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Sixth Judicial District of Iowa. Brenda is the Program Vice Chair for the 2019 DRI Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium.


Jonathan P. Zayle
Athens Program Services Inc

Jonathan P. Zayle is a licensed New Jersey attorney and the Professional Liability Claims Supervisor for Athens Programs Services, Inc., where he manages an Addiction Treatment and several other national programs. Early in his career, Jonathan defended insureds in various Professional Liability, Products Liability and Construction Defect claims. Immediately prior to joining Athens, he spent six years as the Professional Liability Claims Manager for a specialty insurer focusing on LPL and CPA matters. He enjoys playing bass and acoustic guitar.