Mary Anderson is Vice President, Claims Litigation for IAT Specialty, a business unit within the IAT Group of companies specializing in Excess and Surplus Lines products. She has over 32 years experience in the insurance industry, including underwriting, marketing and claims. Ms. Anderson oversees and manages claims operations associated with all classes of business generated by the IAT Specialty business unit. Her responsibilities include developing and implementing claims processes/procedures and management of a staff of claims professionals. The IAT Specialty claims unit handles a broad spectrum of excess/surplus lines products, including commercial general liability, products liability, dram, trucking, commercial auto, commercial excess/umbrella, public entity, property, professional liability and other surplus lines classes of business. The IAT Group of companies include Acceptance Indemnity, Acceptance Casualty, Occidental Fire & Casualty, Wilshire Insurance, Harco National Insurance, TransGuard Insurance and Service Insurance Company.

AREAS OF PRACTICE

Products Liability, Insurance Defense, Toxic Torts,Environmental Law, Admiralty, Trucking Claims, Construction Defects

BACKGROUND

Native of Detroit, MichiganLouisiana State University, B.S., 1968Louisiana State University, J.D., 1974Admitted to Practice, 1974Married, one child

BAR ADMISSIONS

Admitted to Bar, 1974, LouisianaAdmitted to Bar, 1993, TexasUnited States District Courts:Eastern (1974), Middle (1980), andWestern (1976) Districts of LouisianaUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1981)

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

American Bar AssociationLouisiana State Bar AssociationJefferson Parish Bar AssociationLouisiana Association of Defense CounselDefense Research Institute

HONORS/AWARDS

Moot Court Board, Louisiana State University

CIVIC ACTIVITIES

Rotary Club of New OrleansLouisiana Lodge No. 102, F. and A.M.

Jeffrey W. Johnson is the founder of The Johnson Law Group. Mr. Johnson is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell. He has extensive litigation and jury trial experience in matters involving wrongful death, personal injury, and construction-related matters in the areas of general tort liability and commercial litigation. Mr. Johnson’s experience includes litigating matters involving the trucking industry, amusement industry, automobile accidents, premises liability, product liability, and construction/contractor liability.

He has served as the Past President to the Florida Defense Lawyers Association (FDLA) and to the International Amusement and Leisure Defense Association (IALDA) and is still a Board of Director of IALDA. He is an active member of the Defense Research Institute (DRI); Council for Litigation Management (CLM); International Association of Amusement and Parks and Attractions (IAAPA); Trucking Industry Defense Association (TIDA); Transportation Lawyers Association (TLA); Housing Authorities Insurance Group (HAI); National Restaurant and Retail Defense Association (NRRDA); Palm Beach County Bar Association and the Broward County Bar Association. He has spoken at conferences throughout the United States. He currently represents one of the largest privately owned amusement company in the United States in their litigation throughout the State of Florida.

Mr. Johnson is admitted to practice before the Florida Bar. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Tulane University and his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Miami, School of Law.  He is admitted to practice in all trial and appellate courts in the State of Florida, as well as the U.S. District Court (Southern and Middle Districts of Florida).

Rob Keith represents, amongst others, political subdivisions and municipalities, in a wide variety of cases including sexual harassment claims, violations of the Open Meeting's Act, medical malpractice, use of excessive force and various other Constitutional claims.  He serves as the Chair of his firm's Government Entity Defense Group.  He also represents transportation companies, veterinarians, large retail stores, restaurants and insurance companies in auto, product liability and premises liability actions.  He has been awarded an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell, which identifies a lawyer with a very high to preeminent legal ability.

Rob graduated from the University of Nebraska with a degree in Political Science in 1992.  He worked for one year as a Regional Director for a large national fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, based out of Richmond, Virginia.  During law school, Rob was elected and served as second and third-year Class President and was chosen to participate in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Honors Intern Program.  Rob was awarded his J.D. with distinction in 1996.

He then went to work for a firm that ultimately became Engles Ketcham Olson & Keith.  Over the past 17 years, Rob has had the opportunity to try dozens of cases to a jury and a large number of cases to the bench.  He has given over 100 presentations to industry groups on topics varying from mold litigation, §1983 violations, trial tactics, case evaluation and management as well as best practices to avoid bad faith claims.  He is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in Nebraska.

Rob currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Nebraska Defense Counsel Association and has published several articles on topics such as pursuit liability, mold and current issues affecting the insurance defense practice.  He is a 2014 graduate of CLM's Litigation Management Institute.

Nick Lanza is a civil trial lawyer in Texas and practices civil litigation, specializing in the legal defense of individuals and corporations in personal injury, property, insurance, and business disputes.Nick Lanza represents parties in complex claims involving wrongful death, intentional torts, business torts, breach of contract, commerical trucking and automobile litigation, negligence, the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Texas Insurance Code, products liability, liquor liability, and premises liability. He also represents various professionals in professional errors and omissions liability claims. His clients include families, individuals, insurance agencies, trucking companies, insurance companies, and businesses, small and large. Mr. Lanza is proud of the fact many clients become long term friends, long after litigation is concluded.

Nick Lanza has successfully taken over 160 complex cases to trial by Judge and jury throughout the State of Texas. Nick is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Nick received the President’s Award from the Houston Young Lawyers Association in 1996. He has been selected as a Texas Super Lawyer every year from 2011-2017  and  as a Texas Top Rated Lawyer.
Hobbies include: collecting sports memorabilia, running marathons,  and traveling.

Tony McLaughlin's current leadership role with Gallagher Bassett focuses on creating and fostering a positive claim experience for the religious & non-profit clients Gallagher Basset is fortunate enough to serve.  Prior to joining Gallagher Bassett, Tony was the AVP-Claims at at Catholic Mutual Group (the largest provider of insurance to the Catholic Church in the US).  Tony has 30+ years of multi-line claim adjusting, supervision, and management experience while working for several different companies (Cooperative Mutual Ins. Co., CorVel Corp., USF&G, GAB, and as as independent adjuster handling claims resulting from Hurricane Andrew in Miami, FL).  

Rodney Oligmueller is the Director of Specialty Claims and Reinsurance for Catholic Mutual Group.  He graduated from Wayne State College with a Mathematics and Psychology degree and has obtained his Chartered Property Casualty Underwriting (CPCU) designation.  Rod began his career in the insurance industry as a Multi-Line Field Adjuster for Farm Bureau Insurance Company of Nebraska for seven years.  For the past nineteen years, he has been with Catholic Mutual Group filling the positions of Claims Risk Manager, Casualty Claims Manager, Specialty Claims Manager, Claims Manager, Director of Risk Management and Director of Specialty Claims and Reinsurance.  As Director of Specialty Claims and Reinsurance, he is responsible for handling sexual misconduct claims, reinsurance collections, conducting performance evaluations and other managerial duties as needed.  Rod is proud to be able to serve the temporal needs of the Catholic Church.
 

Jeff serves as the Director of Claims for Catholic Mutual Group, the largest provider of P&C coverage for the Catholic Church in the US and Canada.  Prior to this current role, Jeff served as Director of Claims for Advanced Disposal, a waste disposal provider reaching over 15 States.  He also served as Sr. Manager of Liability, Auto and Property losses for BILO/Winn-Dixie Stores, a retailer of over 500 grocery stores serving 8 States in the southeast US.  Jeff started his insurance career with Empire Fire and Marine/Zurich US.  He served 14 years with Zurich in various Claim and Operations leadership roles.

Jeff is the 2013 CLM Litigation Management Professional of the Year, has had the privilege to speak at many CLM local and National events and has published three articles in Litigation Management magazine.  He splits duties as the CLM Regional Chair for the Midwest region, is a Co-Chair for the CLM Religious and Non-profit Committee and serves on other various committees.

Jeff is a Cum Laude graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and holds the SCLA designation.

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).