DRI Faculty List

2021 Insurance Coverage and Claims Institute

Swissôtel Chicago | Chicago | July 22 - 24, 2021


Harold J. Adkins
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 the Immediate Past Chair of the DRI Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee.


Laurie C. Barbe
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Laurie C. Barbe co-leads Steptoe & Johnson's Insurance Company Team from her firm's office in Morgantown, West Virginia. Laurie regularly represents insurance companies in West Virginia state and federal courts in response to first party insurance claims involving coverage disputes and allegations of statutory and common law bad faith. She also provides guidance to insurers writing new business in West Virginia, assists with the investigation of suspicious fire and theft claims, and provides general insurance counseling and claim handling training.


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.


Lisa Fontana Brennan
Markel Corporation

Lisa Fontana Brennan is an Executive Claims Examiner for Markel Corporation. She handles claims in all states for a variety of professional lines including architects and engineers, accountants, dentists, directors and officers, employment practices liability, homeowners associations, miscellaneous errors and omissions, and technology services. Lisa is a licensed attorney in Illinois, Michigan and Indiana and practiced law at an insurance defense firm prior to joining Markel.


Camille R. Bryant
McGlinchey Stafford PLLC

Camille R. Bryant is a member at McGlinchey Stafford PLLC where she practices in the Labor and Employment practice group. Based in the New Orleans office, she guides employers through a wide range of employment law issues, whether through litigation or advice and counsel. In the areas of litigation, Camille has experience representing employers in both single-plaintiff and class action litigation. She is also well versed in advising employers with respect to independent contractor classification, non-compete agreements, discipline, wage and hour issues, and employment discrimination. Camille regularly conducts customized workplace DEI and anti-harassment trainings for employers, and she is a frequent speaker and author on various employment law topics.


Allison M. Burns
Ambridge Partners LLC

Allison M. Burns has been with Ambridge (previously Brit USA) for five years. She leads the Ambridge Specialty Casualty and Ambridge Re claims teams. Prior to joining Ambridge, Allison was in private practice where she specialized in general liability, trucking, construction, and product liability defense.


Robert L. (Bob) Christie
Christie Law Group PLLC

Robert L. (Bob) Christie is the founder of Christie Law Group. A trial lawyer for over 39 years, Bob has tried over 100 cases throughout Washington State and the district courts in Washington and Alaska. He is recognized for his defense of police officers and their agencies in civil rights cases. He is also licensed in Idaho and Oregon.


Andrea L. Collins
SpyratosDavis LLC

Andrea L. Collins is an attorney at SpyratosDavis LLC in their Chicago and Lisle, Illinois offices. Andrea focuses her practice on insurance coverage and defense of complex litigation involving bodily injury and wrongful death, as well as commercial and employer liability claims. She counsels corporations and individuals, implementing the core values of her clients in resolving or litigating claims to realize favorable outcomes for her clients.


Jennifer A. (Jen) Ehman
Merchants Mutual Insurance Company

Jennifer A. (Jen) Ehman is a Senior Litigation Manager at Merchants Mutual Insurance Company, where she oversees construction defect, property litigation and New York Labor Law claims. Prior to joining Merchants, she was a member of Hurwitz & Fine, P.C. located in Buffalo, New York, where she specialized in insurance coverage matters representing insurers in both federal and state court. Jen is the 2021 Insurance Coverage and Claims Institute Program Chair.


F. Lane Finch, Jr.
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 Immediate Past 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
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.


Charles A. Hafner
Nicolaides Fink Thorpe Michaelides Sullivan LLP

Charles A. Hafner is one of the founding partners of Nicolaides Fink Thorpe Michaelides Sullivan LLP and, like the firm, limits his practice to insurance coverage counseling and litigation. For over 17 years, he has represented and advised foreign and domestic insurers on issues arising under a broad range of commercial insurance policies, including primary and excess general liability, commercial auto and trucking, financial lines, and professional liability. Charles is a member of the Illinois and New York state bars, and is regularly relied on by colleagues and clients for excellent restaurant recommendations in Chicago, New York City, and around the nation.


Rick L. Hammond
Insurance Claims & Litigation Consultants

Rick L. Hammond is the principal of Insurance Claims and Litigation Consulting, LLC where he serves as an expert witness on matters involving insurance industry customs and practices and allegations of bad faith. Previously and for more than 30 years he served as coverage and bad faith counsel for a number of national insurers. He is an adjunct Professor on Insurance Law at Loyola University Chicago Law School, formerly served as head of the Illinois Department of Insurance's Chicago office, and as a property insurance claim examiner and full-lines insurance producer for two major insurance carriers. Mr. Hammond is Past-President of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, former Illinois State Representative of DRI, member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, a Fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel, and an appointee of the Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court to serve on the Court Operations During COVID-19 Task Force. He was also one of two attorneys in the country selected by the Lexis Nexis Insurance Law Center to receive its "Insurance Lawyer of the Year Award."


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.


Amy E. Johnson
HeplerBroom LLC

Amy E. Johnson focuses her practice on insurance coverage and litigation of bad faith disputes across all product lines and layers of coverage, personal injury and property damage, and premises liability. She is a certified mediator with a strong track record in both corporate and private practice. Ms. Johnson has 20 years of experience mitigating risk on coverage issues and high exposure or bad faith claims, including 13 years as Director, Property & Casualty Claims, and Claim Counsel at a national insurance company.


Roman Lifson
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
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.


Larry D. Mason
Goldberg Segalla LLP

Larry D. Mason is a Goldberg Segalla LLP Partner where he dedicates his practice to first-party and third-party coverage, reinsurance, and defense issues, including environmental and toxic torts, professional liability for clients in construction, insurance, environmental and related industries, complex commercial litigation, products liability, and assistance to underwriters regarding policy drafting and strategy. Larry also serves as an expert witness. For over 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, speaker, podcaster, and blogger concerning the most pressing issues in insurance and related fields.


Alastar S. McGrath
Kozacky Weitzel McGrath PC

Alastar S. McGrath is the co-managing partner of KWM. His practice involves business-related litigation, including employment and professional liability defense. He has tried cases in federal and state courts representing corporate entities, insurance companies, government entities and high net-worth individuals in industries including insurance, construction/housing, transportation, healthcare and technology. He has experience in a wide variety of complex litigation matters, ranging from the successful defense of a wage and hour class action that was upheld by the Illinois Appellate Court, to the successful defense of a public entity against a $300 million commercial disparagement claim. He is a member of the Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar and is active in providing pro-bono services.


Todd M. Rowe
Tressler LLP

Todd M. Rowe is Co-Chair of Tressler's Insurance Practice Group. Todd practices in the field of insurance coverage and has represented insurers in litigation and non-litigation disputes. He regularly advises insurers on complex matters, including the resolution of large claims and claims under specialty and commercial insurance lines throughout the country. Todd has been involved in liability insurance, advising insurers on various insurance issues related to third party liability for bodily injury, property damage, and personal and advertising injury claims. Todd also counsels on first party claims, advising clients on pre-suit claims and multi-state litigation related first party property issues. Additionally, Todd directs clients on privacy and cyber-risk insurance claims, working with underwriters on policy provisions and issues in this emerging area of law.


Heather A. Sanderson
Sanderson Law

Heather A. Sandersonis 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. She is also a Fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel, member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel and is a director of the Canadian Defence Lawyers and DRI. 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 Superior Court of Justice and the Quebec Superior Court. The two major works Heather has authored are standard industry reference materials and are on the required reading lists of several Canadian universities and community colleges. Both works have been cited in numerous insurance publications and by courts across Canada.


Hon. Philip P. Simon
US District Court, N District of Indiana

Hon. Philip P. Simon was appointed on March 31, 2003. Prior to his appointment, Simon practiced at Kirkland & Ellis, Chicago Illinois, 1987-1990. He was assistant United States Attorney, Northern District of Indiana, 1990-1997. He was an adjunct Professor of Law at Valparaiso University School of Law, from 1995-1997 and 1999-2000. Simon was Assistant United States Attorney, District of Arizona, 1997-1999, followed by chief of the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of Indiana, 1999-2003. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa, earning his B.A. in 1984, followed by receiving his J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law in 1987.


Jeffrey D. (Jeff) Van Volkenburg
Varner & 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.