Stephen Berry leads the insurance coverage and bad faith team in the Atlanta office of Dentons US. His practice focuses on general liability, IP/media, personal and advertising injury, and construction defect claims. Licensed in Georgia and Louisiana, Mr. Berry’s insurance practice is nationwide; he has litigated coverage and bad faith issues in numerous jurisdictions from coast to coast (including every southeastern state) and frequently advises insurer clients on nationwide coverage developments and helps them take strategic approaches to multi-state disputes.   Mr. Berry is the author of Georgia Property and Liability Insurance Law (West, 5th Ed.); and Appraisal in Property Damage Insurance Disputes (CLM, 2013); Insurance Coverage for Intellectual Property and Cyber Claims (Lexis, 2015), and numerous articles on insurance coverage and bad faith issues. He frequently speaks on insurance law to attorneys, claim representatives, in-house counsel, judges, and insurer professional training organizations.  Mr. Berry is an AV-rated attorney, and has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America (in the practice area of Insurance Law) every year since 2007, as well as Georgia Super Lawyers (category of Insurance Coverage) every year since 2011. Further, Mr. Berry sits on the Coverage sub-committee of Claims and Litigation Management (“CLM”) and recently became the youngest person ever elected to membership in the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel (“ACCEC”). In addition, Mr. Berry and his teammates at Dentons were named by the Daily Report as the “Litigation Practice Group of the Year” in 2013.

Krista Fowler Acuña is a Partner in the Miami office of Hamilton, Miller & Birthisel, LLP.   Krista is a highly skilled, veteran litigator representing clients in state and federal court in the areas of admiralty and maritime, transportation, general liability, product liability (consumer, industrial, and marine), construction (commercial, construction defect and contractor liability), insurance coverage, and appeals.   She has tried bench and jury trials in Florida and nationally.  Her coverage experience includes first and third party policies coverage review and analysis, declaratory judgment litigation, bad faith, and breach of good faith and fair dealing claims. Krista also counsels her clients on the drafting of insurance policy language, warranties, contracts, distribution agreements, as well as advertising review and drafting for compliance with state and federal warranty law.

Krista represents clients in a wide range of industries, including domestic and London market insurers and Fortune 100 to 500 corporations in the marine, transportation, hospitality, retail, construction, and manufacturing industries. Krista’s significant experience in a litigation management role with her domestic and London market clients includes oversight of deadline compliance, budget and reserve recommendations, and quarterly file audits.   She is an experienced supervising partner responsible for oversight of case strategies, attorney productivity, budget review, work product and billings.

Krista is a sought-after speaker and author by industry and professional associations and clients in her practice areas.  She is an active member of the Claims & Litigation Management Alliance, where she earned the CLMP designation, and the Defense Research Institute.  Krista is involved and influential in the development of litigation management best practices via CLM.  She is a Certified Litigation Management Professional (CLMP) ™ and has been awarded the Litigation Management Institute Certificate™.

 

Fred Green is a partner in the Atlanta office of Goodman McGuffey, LLP and is a trial attorney with over 26 years' experience in civil litigation and workers' compensation.  Fred practices regularly before the State Board of Workers' Compensation, as well as in all federal and state courts in Georgia in the areas of general insurance defense, professional malpractice, commercial and business claims, products liability, and premises liability.Fred is a member of the State Bars of Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina.  He is a certified mediator and one of the neutrals at BAY Mediation and Arbitration Services and is available to assist with resolution of your workers' compensation, legal malpractice or other civil matter.  He is rated "AV" by Martindale Hubbell.  Fred is a frequent speaker to insurers, risk managers and attorneys on workers' compensation topics, insurance defense, as well as on ethics and professionalism.In addition to his professional pursuits, Fred was actively involved from 1997 through 2016 in the State Bar of Georgia's High School Mock Trial Competition as an attorney coach for the highly successful Milton High School Mock Trial Team.  Fred attended the University of Michigan (A.B. 1990), the University of Regensburg (Germany), and the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (J.D. 1994).  Fred was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1967.

PartnerPractice Areas

Arson & Fraud, Bad Faith Litigation, Construction Law, Environmental Law, Insurance Coverage, Products Liability, Professional Liability, Property Insurance

Education

University of North Carolina School of Law, University of Virginia

Biography

Stephen M. Schatz practices in a wide variety of litigation cases, especially areas related to insurance, construction and general liability. Throughout his career, he has handled a multitude of complex coverage issues under commercial general liability, excess, reinsurance, auto, specialty lines, D&O, disability, pollution, professional liability and first-party insurance policies. He has litigated numerous bad faith, insurance coverage, arson, fraud, theft, damage disputes, agency liability, subrogation and construction defects cases. He has also litigated and tried cases involving general liability, products liability, class actions, multi-district litigation (MDL), environmental liability, employer liability, professional liability and business/contract disputes.

 

Mr. Schatz is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and practices in all state and federal courts in Georgia. In addition to Georgia, he has litigated matters in jurisdictions pro hac vice, including Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.Mr. Schatz is a member of the Defense Research Institute, the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, the Georgia Fire Investigators Association and the Southern Loss Association. He has published an article every year in the Mercer Law Review (the "Annual Insurance Survey") since 2002 and the National Fire and Arson Report. He is also a frequent speaker on insurance coverage, bad faith and construction litigation issues. Mr. Schatz graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia in 1985, and earned his J.D. degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1988. He has been a partner with Swift Currie since 1997.

Memberships

Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, Defense Research Institute, Georgia Fire Investigators Association, Southern Loss Association, State Bar of Georgia

Bar Admissions

Georgia

 

Interests/Additional Information

Mr. Schatz enjoys spending time with his wife, Anne, and his two children, Jack and Claire. In his spare time, he is section hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.

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 leads all claims handling and litigation arising from General Liability 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. Mr. Sikorski is diversely experienced with claims handling process from intake through resolution, including litigation through verdict and appeals. Mastery level understanding of Auto/GL/Property claims and all associated facets. 

Mr. Sikorski has written and lectured widely on many aspects of property casualty claim handling across multiple jurisdictions. He has also spoken at various National Conferences on various property casualty claims related topics. 

PUBLICATIONS

Articles:      
“Hot Technology Scorching Results” - Claims Management Magazine, 
“The Value of Vacancy” - Litigation Management Magazine, 
“One is More than 50”- CPCU Quarterly

Novels:  The Package & Unwilling Donors

Jessica C. Smythe is a Medicare Secondary Payer compliance consultant with ISO Claims Partners. Prior to joining ISO Claims Partners, Jessica was a workers’ compensation defense attorney.

Jessica is a nationally recognized speaker and trainer on the subject of Medicare compliance, including the impact of Medicare compliance on claim handling and litigation management. She also writes a bimonthly column, “Medicare Matters,” for Claims Management Magazine and was awarded the designation of CLMP (Certified Litigation Management Professional) in October 2012. Jessica also holds the designation of CMSP (Certified Medicare Secondary Payer Act Professional). 

Jessica is a graduate of Meredith College and the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, Campbell University. She is an inductee to the Order of the Barristers and is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, the Wake County Bar Association, the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, the Claims & Litigation Management Alliance (CLM) and the National Association of Medicare Set Aside Professionals (NAMSAP).

Resnick & Louis is a national defense law firm primarily handling general liability, construction, transportation, environmental, premises, and workers’ compensation matters in AZ, NV, NM, CA, FL, UT, SC, CO and TX.

As the the managing partner of our Florida offices, I focus my practice on complex tort litigation including premises liability, construction defect, auto, products liability, title defense and negligent security matters. I represents clients nationwide and have significant trial experience.