DRI Faculty List

Insurance Coverage and Claims Institute

Swissôtel Chicago | Chicago, IL | April 1 - 3, 2020


Harold J. Adkins
Partner
Hammonds Sills Adkins & Guice LLP

Harold J. Adkins is a partner in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana law firm of Hammonds, Sills, Adkins & Guice, LLP. He concentrates his practice on mediation, casualty, automobile liability, premises liability and personal injury. He serves on the panel of neutrals for Mediation Arbitration and Professional Systems, Inc., (MAPS) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mr. Adkins obtained his mediation certification from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. He is Vice Chair of the DRI Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee.


Steve Bowen
Aon Corporation

Steve Bowen has had a lifelong fascination with the weather. After starting off his professional career working in television, he has spent more than a decade in the insurance industry. His current role is with Aon's Impact Forecasting group, where he serves as Director & Meteorologist and is the Global Head of Catastrophe Insight. This team is primarily focused on conducting real-time and historical natural disaster analysis for clients around the world. Much of his work utilizes analytics to help communicate the evolving risks and loss trends associated with increasing weather variability, climate change, and other natural perils. He regularly collaborates with government agencies, academia, and industry groups on numerous weather, climate, and insurance-related projects.


Michael B. Chester
Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP

Michael B. Chester Bio Requested


Andrea L. Collins
SpyratosDavis LLC

Andrea L. Collins Bio Requested


Lauren S. Curtis
Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP

Lauren S. Curtis is a partner with Buckley Zinober & Curtis PA in St. Petersburg, Florida. Ms. Curtis has a statewide insurance coverage and bad faith practice that encompasses all aspects of insurance coverage, from pre-suit coverage advice and claim handling issues to litigation and appeals. Ms. Curtis is AV-rated and has been recognized in the areas of insurance and complex litigated matters in Florida Trend and Tampa Bay Magazine.


Robert W. DiUbaldo
Carlton Fields PA

Robert W. DiUbaldo is a Shareholder in the New York office of Carlton Fields and a member of its Financial Services and Insurance Litigation Department. His practice focuses on insurance and reinsurance arbitration, litigation, regulatory matters and complex claims analysis on behalf of insurers, reinsurers, brokers, MGAs and other entities engaged in the insurance space. Mr. DiUbaldo has litigated, arbitrated or counseled clients on matters involving a broad range of issues in the property & casualty and life & health sectors, as well as many specialty lines, such as financial and surety products. A significant part of his practice involves representing primary and excess insurers in coverage matters and disputes involving many different lines of business (both first and third party), including commercial general liability, D&O, E&O, professional liability, property, business interruption, cyber, life and health, workers' compensation, pollution, aviation, marine and energy.


Jeanette L. Dixon
Manning & Kass Ellrod


Jennifer A. (Jen) Ehman
Associate
Hurwitz & Fine PC

Jennifer A. (Jen) Ehman is a member of Hurwitz & Fine's Insurance Coverage Practice Group who focuses her practice in insurance coverage analysis and coverage litigation. Jennifer handles additional insured and risk transfer issues arising out of construction and New York labor law claims. She often provides legal training on the handling of insurance claims, investigations and adjuster negotiations.


Alexis M. Farley
State Farm Insurance

Alexis M. Farley is claims litigation counsel for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company in Tempe, AZ. She represents insureds in a variety of tort litigation and handles both first and third party litigation. Prior to joining State Farm she worked in private practice representing self-insured companies in general liability litigation. She received her Juris Doctorate from Arizona State University. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Kentucky with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Spanish.


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.


John M. Foley
Senior Counsel
Markel Service

John M. Foley is an Executive Claims Examiner for Markel, responsible for handling E&S professional liability claims and suits against physicians, hospitals, medical facilities and allied health professionals pending across the United States and its territories. Mr. Foley was an attorney in private practice in Chicago from 1992 - 2008, concentrating his practice in litigating professional liability cases involving medical professionals and attorneys. He is a 1992 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law and a 1989 honors graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.


Jessica Foscolo
Corporate Casualty Manager
Merchants Insurance Group

Jessica Foscolobio requested


Toni L. Frain
Liberty Mutual Group

Toni L. Frain is corporate counsel to Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. She is a senior litigator in the Litigation Department, focusing on extra-contractual matters, class actions and other challenges to the company's business practices. She holds a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter professional designation. Ms. Frain is also the recipient of the 2018 G. Duffield Smith Outstanding Publication Award for her co-authored article in the October 2018 edition of DRI: For the Defense, entitled "More than Pawns: Fighting Removal Spoiler Claims Against Adjusters, Attorneys, and Agents in Bad-Faith Lawsuits."


Beth Zaro Green
Director of Claims Litigation
W.R. Berkley Corporation

Beth Zaro Green is the Director of Claims Litigation Management at W. R. Berkley Corporation. Beth is responsible for providing litigation oversight for high exposure complex claims, bad faith and coverage litigation across select Berkley companies which focus on Professional Liability. She also manages the WRBC enterprise-wide defense counsel panel. Prior to joining W. R. Berkley Corporation, she was Senior Vice President and Managing Attorney of AIG's Litigation Management, Professional Errors & Omissions and Coverage Department and she also managed the in-house coverage law office which litigated coverage matters in New York and New Jersey. Previously she worked as a trial lawyer admitted in New York and New Jersey after completing a judicial clerkship in New Jersey.


Matthew M. Haar
Partner
Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP

Matthew M. Haar is a litigation attorney in Saul Ewing's Harrisburg office and is a member of the firm's Insurance Practice Group. He focuses his practice on corporate and commercial litigation with an emphasis on complex coverage and bad faith disputes, as well as administrative proceedings and rehabilitations and liquidations. Mr. Haar also routinely handles extra-contractual liability cases for other clients in the financial services industry, such as banks, trust companies, producers and credit card companies, as well as agents and brokers in the real estate industry. A frequent speaker on the law of bad faith, Mr. Haar is an active member of DRI's Insurance Law Committee, chair of its Bad Faith Subcommittee and previously served as co-editor of the committee's monthly e-newsletter Covered Events


Charles A. Hafner
Nicolaides Fink Thorpe Michaelides Sullivan LLP


Rick L. Hammond
Shareholder
HeplerBroom LLC

Rick L. Hammond is a Partner with HeplerBroom, LLC, and he concentrates on matters relating to property insurance coverage, and serves as an expert on insurance law and bad faith. He is an Adjunct Professor on Insurance Law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and on the Board of Trustees of Loyola University and Arrupe College. Rick is the former Assistant Deputy Director of the Illinois Department of Insurance, and former property claims manager and insurance producer. He is Past-President of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, a member of the FDCC, a Fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel and former State Representative of DRI.


Christopher M. Jacobs
Houston Harbaugh PC

Christopher M. Jacobs is a Director at Houston Harbaugh, P.C. in Pittsburgh. Mr. Jacobs focuses his practice on the areas of insurance bad faith, insurance coverage, and commercial litigation. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia. He earned his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Richmond, followed by his J.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Chris is a member of DRI's Insurance and Commercial Litigation Committees.


Maria D. Jensen
American Family Mutual Insurance Company


Seth K. Kleinman
Claims Attorney
AmeriTrust Group Inc

Seth K. Kleinman Bio Requested.


Reinhard Krestel
MDD Forensic Accountants


Roman Lifson
Partner
Christian & Barton LLP

Roman Lifson is a partner with Christian & Barton LLP in Richmond, Virginia. He has tried cases in federal and state courts across the country and focuses his practice on motorsports law, product liability and catastrophic injury litigation. Mr. Lifson is the past chair of DRI's Automotive Specialized Litigation Group and past chair of the Virginia Bar Association's Civil Litigation Section. Mr. Lifson has served as Chair of DRI's Product Liability Conference and DRI's Strictly Automotive seminar. Mr. Lifson devotes time to car racing at race tracks across the country. He is the Law Institute liaison of this conference.


Elizabeth F. Lorell
Partner
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP

Elizabeth F. Lorell is a partner in the Florham Park, New Jersey, office of Gordon & Rees LLP. Ms. Lorell is a member of the firm's insurance practice group and has been at the forefront of major insurance coverage litigation for over 20 years. She handles counseling and litigation for national insurers on unique and complex coverage issues stemming from director and officers, errors and omissions, and first- and third-party insurance policy disputes. Ms. Lorell has been recognized as a top insurance coverage lawyer in trade publications and practices in New Jersey and New York.


Samrah Mahmoud
Partner
Troutman Sanders

Samrah Mahmoud is a partner at Troutman Sanders LLP in Irvine, California, who has experience representing insurers in coverage and bad faith cases involving a variety of underlying claims including product defect, construction defect, environmental, and mass tort.


Lawrence D. (Larry) Mason
Partner
Goldberg Segalla LLP

Lawrence D. (Larry) Mason is a Goldberg Segalla, LLP Partner where he dedicates his practice to first-party and third-party coverage, reinsurance, and defense issues, including products liability, environmental and toxic torts, professional liability for clients in construction, environmental and related industries, complex commercial litigation, and assistance to underwriters regarding policy drafting and strategy. Larry also serves as an expert witness. For nearly three decades, Larry has been a thought leader in the insurance law community, a member of DRI, including its Insurance Law Committee, and is a frequent author and speaker concerning the most pressing issues in insurance and related fields.


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.


Steven E. Peiper
Hurwitz & Fine PC


Todd M. Rowe
Tressler LLP

Todd M. Rowe Bio Requested


Demetrius E. Rush
Vice President & Assistant General Counsel
Zurich North America

Demetrius E. Rush has national case supervisory responsibility for extra-contractual institutional bad faith litigation and e-discovery issues. His supervisory experience covers both personal lines and complex commercial property and liability litigation. With nearly 30 years' experience in the insurance industry, Mr. Rush has served as a personal lines underwriter trainee and as a personal lines BI/PD field claim representative. Following law school, he represented both insurers and insureds, serving as lead counsel in 92 jury trials to verdict and approximately 25 bench trials. Mr. Rush is a frequent speaker nationally on issues of bad faith, and has also spoken on insurance coverage and trial advocacy topics at the University of Texas Continuing Legal Education Center and the Northwestern University School of Law. He was appointed as a faculty member for the 2016 Federal Judicial Training Symposium for federal judges and is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law.


Heather A. Sanderson
Sanderson Law

Heather A. Sanderson the principal with Sanderson Law in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and has 38 years of experience providing legal advice and direction on all manner of commercial and personal lines claims. In addition to being a skilled advocate, she has extensive experience with policy drafting, providing coverage opinions on property and liability policies of every description, defending property and casualty claims of all descriptions, defending actions within the self-insured retention and bad faith actions. Fellow of the American College of Coverage Consel, member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel and is a director of the Canadian Defence Lawyers and DRI (Defense Research Institute). Heather has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada and all levels of Courts in ALberta, and was co-counsel on the longest civil trails in the history of the Northwest Territories. Heather has testified as an expert witness on insurance and civil litigation issues before the Albert Court of Queen's Bench, the Ontario Superioor Court of Justice and the Quebec Superior Court. The two major works Heather has authored are standard industry refernce materials and are on the required readng lists of several Canadian Universities and community colleges. Both works have been cited in numerous insurance publlications and by courts across Canada.


Erik A. Sikorski CPCU, AIC
General Liability Manager
Catalina U.S. Insurance Services LLC

Erik A. Sikorski CPCU, AIC is a claim executive at Builders Insurance Group in Atlanta. Mr. Sikorski graduated, from The University of Kentucky in May, 1993 and has been in the Insurance industry since September 1993. Mr. Sikorski currently is a Director of Claims for Catalina Re and oversees claims handling and litigation arising from Construction, General Liability, Professional Liability and Property policies. Mr. Sikorski has experience in every facet of the property casualty industry, holding such positions as Assistant Vice President, Director Complex Claims and Litigation, Director National Subrogation, Regional Claims Manager Auto/Property, State Claims manager, and Claim Manager.


Susan R. Snowden
Jackson Kelly PLLC

Susan R. Snowden practices in the area of employment and insurance law with an emphasis on class action defense. Her experience includes litigation of employment and wage issues, contract disputes, and representation of both individual and corporate clients. She litigates employment matters with a particular emphasis on defending wrongful dismissal, discrimination, and employment-related litigation.


Jeffrey D. (Jeff) Van Volkenburg
Shareholder
Varner and Van Volkenburg PLLC

Jeffrey D. (Jeff) Van Volkenburg focuses his practice on the defense of corporations, insurance companies and individuals throughout West Virginia state and federal courts, including in the areas of insurance coverage, toxic tort defense, oil and gas litigation, wrongful death, professional liability, deliberate intent and personal injury. Jeff has been recognized as a Rising Star by West Virginia SuperLawyers numerous times.


Ricardo A. Woods
Partner
Burr & Forman LLP

Ricardo A. Woods is a trial lawyer and shareholder in Burr Forman, LLP's Mobile office. He is a creative problem solver who provides his clients with innovative and cost effective solutions and strategies. He is no stranger to the courtroom and he is experienced in handling all stages of complex litigation. Ricardo has first-chair jury trial experience, as well as extensive pre-trial litigation experience. He has successfully defended matters, which included allegations of wrongful death, paralysis, severe bodily injuries, and catastrophic property loss. Ricardo serves as the Chief Legal Counsel and City Attorney for the City of Mobile. He was appointed to this post by the Honorable William S. Stimpson in 2013. In his capacity as City Attorney, Ricardo manages all of the City's outside counsel, serves as chief legal adviser to the executive branch of the local government, and serves as the executive director of the City of Mobile's internal legal department. Ricardo's insurance litigation experience includes issues related to defalcation, bad agents, fraud and coverage agents. His product liability experience includes industrial grade machinery, warranty claims, automobile components, toxic torts and chemical agents. Ricardo also serves as the Chair of DRI's Diversity Committee and a member of Burr Forman's executive committee.