Carolyn Edgar is Vice President and Legal Counsel, The Estée Lauder Companies. Carolyn supports the Company’s Global Information Systems, Global Procurement and Global Supply Chain groups, with special emphasis on complex technology and outsourcing transactions. Prior to joining Estée Lauder, Carolyn was a partner in the intellectual property practice with Kirkland & Ellis’ New York office, specializing in technology and other intellectual property-focused transactions. Carolyn received a B.A. in English with High Distinction from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.

eTeresa Savory is currently the Diversity Officer for Chartis US. In this role Teresa is responsible for developing specific talent acquisition programs that leverage Chartis’ partnerships with diverse organizations, introduce “Champions of Diversity” teams throughout the country and enhance the programs of the Employee Resource Groups. Teresa is also responsible for working closely with the Supplier Diversity Director to ensure the continued development of a diverse Supplier base and continue building relationships with Suppliers that reflect the market, clients and communities that Chartis serves. Additionally in her role, Teresa works to ensure Chartis participates in service activities to increase cultural awareness and that the company participates in relevant events and initiatives to enhance its’ corporate reputation.

Teresa has worked in the Human Resources field for over 13 years and most recently supported nearly 1,000 employees as the Human Resources Director for Commercial Casualty a division within Chartis. Commercial Casualty is the premier provider of general and excess liability, commercial automobile liability, workers’ compensation and surety insurance in the United States and Canada with approximately $5.7B in gross written premium. In that capacity she provided employee relations, succession planning, compensation, and leadership and development support. Ms. Savory has also worked at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and Green Point Bank, now Capital One. Prior to working in Human Resources, Ms Savory worked in the Reengineering group and in the Mortgage Servicing Arenas.

Ms. Savory is Past President of Partnership Uniting Banking Leaders in the Community and is an active moderator who has served as Mistress of Ceremonies and keynote speaker for several professional organizations. Ms. Savory currently holds the position of Co - Chairman of the New York City Academies which support the Academies of Engineering, Finance, Technology, and Hospitality & Tourism. She also serves on the High School of Economics and Finance Advisory Board. In addition, Teresa serves as Vice President of the Adelphi University Alumni Board. Ms. Savory is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, The Links Incorporated, The National Association for African Americans in Human Resources, The Association for African Americans in Insurance and the Society of Human Resource Management.

Ms. Savory earned a Bachelors in Health Care Administration and Finance at Fisk University and an advanced Certificate in Health Care Administration from Meharry Medical College, she also holds a MBA in Money, Banking and Finance from Adelphi University.

Karen D. Fultz is Of Counsel at Sheehe & Associates, P.A. practicing with the Insurance Department. She focuses her practice on subrogation and recovery. Prior to joining the firm, Karen was an A.P. & Dean with WMU Cooley Law School. She also served as a judicial intern for the Hon. Denise Page Hood of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

As a member of the subrogation and recovery department she handles product liability cases ranging from $100,000 to over $1,000,000.00 involving product failures which result in fire and/or water losses.  She is the coordinator for the Atlanta office’s pro bono program and provides legal assistance for the underprivileged and unrepresented community in the state of Georgia in partnership with Georgia Legal Services and the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyer Foundation.

 She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia’s Insurance Law Section, and its Young Lawyers Division. She served as the President of the Gate City Bar Association (2005), and continues to serve as a member. She is also a member of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, the Atlanta Bar Association and a member of the American and National bar associations. Karen was selected for inclusion in the eighth edition of Who's Who In Black Atlanta.

 She is the author of the article “Workers' Compensation Recovery Issues - Conflicts of Law in Georgia: Can You Intervene to Protect a Foreign State's Lien?” which was published in the Subrogator (1/11/2006). She has made presentations on topics such as Motor Carrier/Cargo Claims, Taking Your First Deposition, and Workers’ Compensation Subrogation claims.

 Karen received her bachelor of arts degree from Michigan State University in 1993 and her law degree in 1998 from Thomas M. Cooley Law School, cum laude, where she served on Moot Court.

Helen is Vice President and Manager of Enterprise Legal Services for the Liberty Mutual Group.  She serves as Vice Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance.  She is also a member of the ACC Law Department Executive Leadership Group.  Helen has had over 30 years of experience at Liberty Mutual Group including various management positions in the Claims and Legal Departments and the Field Legal Organization.  She assumed her current position in 2005, where her responsibilities include managing the outside legal expenditures for Liberty.  Her group is responsible for analytics on $1 Billion of legal spend.  Her responsibilities also include legal finance, technology, auditing and process improvement initiatives for the litigation management function.  Liberty Mutual is a diversified global insurer which ranks 71 on the Fortune 500.  Helen has a Bachelor of Science of Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

Ron Mazariegos is Head of Public Entity and Non-Profit claims at Ambrdige Group.  Ron manages a claims unit handling complex, high impact commercial auto, municipal liability, E&O, MPL, EPL, workers' compensation, excess casualty and reinsurance claims on behalf of insured municipalities, school districts, public risk pools, religous organizations and higher learning institutions.

Previously, Ron was VP of Claims and Vendor Manager with Arrowpoint Capital, (formerly Royal and SunAlliance Insurance), where he led a team of Workers Compensation, No-Fault and PIP claim adjusters and supervisors. Ron also managed professional lines, including Architects and Engineers' Errors and Omissions claims in the U.S. and Canada.

Ron has extensive experience representing the insurance industry on both the claims and defense side. Prior to joining Arrowpoint, Ron was an attorney with Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, LLP in New York. His practice focused on litigation, with an emphasis on construction, professional and general liability defense, insurance coverage matters and subrogation claims. He regularly defended automobile negligence, premises liability, assaults and batteries and negligent security lawsuits on behalf of major insurance carriers, self-insureds, third-party administrators, reinsurers and municipal entities.

Ron was also a civil-trial attorney for the New York City Law Department, Office of the Corporation Counsel. As an Assistant Corporation Counsel, Ron successfully defended and resolved hundreds of lawsuits filed against the City of New York, the New York City Police Department, the Board of Education, the Department of Transportation and the NYC Sanitation Department.

Ron is a licensed attorney in New York and North Carolina. He also a licensed adjuster in NC, SC, FL, TX and GA.

Preston McGowan is an accomplished insurance executive with expertise in transforming core, legacy operations at some of the world’s largest financial services companies.  As the Senior Vice President – Digital and Customer Experience at AIG, he is responsible for delivering the Private Client Group’s new digital sales and services capabilities.  He is also responsible for collaborating with various service teams to develop new customer experience strategies and product roadmaps.  Prior to joining AIG, Preston spent over 30 years in the commercial insurance marketplace and held senior leadership positions in information technology, corporate strategy, marketing and legal operations. 

Preston earned an MBA from The Wharton School and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cornell University.  He also holds a Management of Technology diploma from the Georgia Institute of Technology and executive education certificates from Harvard Business School and Wharton/INSEAD.

Ronald Ragin is Senior Counsel in the Litigation Section of MetLife's Law Department, where he is responsible for supervising outside firms and engaging in direct litigation on behalf of the company. Ronald represents MetLife in various areas, including litigation related to: securities investments, real estate investments, the sale & marketing of financial products, insurance disputes, Retained Asset Accounts, banking/mortgage issues, and international matters.

Ronald began his legal career as Deputy Counsel for the New York State Assembly Transportation Committee, where he was involved in developing legislation in relation to all areas of transportation. He subsequently joined the law firm of Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, where he litigated disputes on behalf of excess insurance carriers.

Ronald has extensive experience litigating in New York State Supreme Courts, Federal Courts, and FINRA arbitration tribunals, as well as supervising outside firms in relation to litigation in all 50 states and various foreign jurisdictions. Ronald also has significant experience in responding to regulatory inquiries from State Insurance Departments, the S.E.C., and other regulatory agencies.

Larry is a founding partner in Southern Trial Counsel | PLC, a Florida litigation boutique firm which defends primary and excess insurance companies, global product manufacturers, theme parks, airports, small to Fortune 10 companies, and other corporate “target” defendants in catastrophic or high profile personal injury cases. Larry has been named a Florida Super Lawyer and one of Florida Trend Magazine’s “Legal Elite” multiple times. For more than a decade, Martindale Hubbell has conveyed both of its most distinguished recognitions, the AV-Preeminent rating and inclusion in their Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. Larry has been selected by his peers to membership in prestigious defense organizations including the Claims & Litigation Management Alliance and International Association of Defense Counsel. He is a recognized leader in substantive law areas as well as diversity and professionalism arenas, having been appointed, for example, to the Florida Code and Rules of Evidence Committee,the Rules of Civil Procedure Committee, the Florida Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism and The Florida Bar Equal Opportunities in Law Section and several positions of leadership within the American Bar Association. He has been recognized for his efforts in LGBT and diversity advancement at the state and national level, including the American Bar Association Section of Litigation's 2013 Diversity Leadership Award recipient.  He is a charter member of the CLM, Chairs its Diversity and Inclusion Committee and  is a member of the Product Liability Committee.
 

Non-professional: Larry and his life partner, Clayton, recently celebrated their 1th anniversary together. They have two beautiful daughters –Jennifer, who is a lawyer, and MaryBeth,an academica advisor to the Honors Program at LSU.
 

You can learn more about Larry by visiting www.southerntrialcounsel.com or the firm’s Facebook page, Southern Trial Counsel | PLC.

Non-professional: Larry and his life partner, Clayton, recently celebrated their 14th anniversary together. They have two beautiful daughters –Jennifer, who is a lawyer, and MaryBeth, who is working on her second Masters Degree at Larry’s alma mater, The University of Alabama. 

Ms. Grinnell is Litigation and Employment Law Counsel at Dean Foods Company. She is responsible for managing corporate litigation, employment matters and providing counsel to the risk management department. Dean Foods, a Fortune 250 company, is one of the leading food and beverage companies in the United States. Ms. Grinnell joined Dean Foods in 2009.

Before joining Dean, Ms. Grinnell served as sole counsel and human resource provider for a privately owned transportation broker.

 

Prior to joining the transportation logistics firm, Ms. Grinnell was a Litigation manager at Chubb Insurance Companies, where she focused her practice in the area of Employment Law. Ms. Grinnell joined Chubb’s Dallas office in 2001 and served in the Specialty department for six years.

 

Ms. Grinnell also served as a judicial law clerk to the late Honorable Marc H. Westbrook in South Carolina.

 

Ms. Grinnell earned her B.A. with Honors in English in 1997 from Hampton University. She received her J.D. in 2000 from the University of South Carolina, School of Law. She is admitted to practice in South Carolina and Texas.
 

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

Anna D. Torres is a seasoned civil litigator with over 30 years of experience. Her practice focuses on all aspects of third party insurance defense litigation, including personal injury and wrongful death, premises liability, products liability, construction defect, automobile and transportation, liability coverage and insurer bad faith claims.

In 1985, Ms. Torres received her B.A. degree with distinction in English from San Diego State University and received her Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School in 1988.

Ms. Torres began her legal practice in San Diego, California . In 1994, she relocated to Florida where she continued in private practice in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. She is the founder of TorresVictor.  

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Ms. Torres is licensed to practice in Florida and California and is admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, United States District Court Southern District of California, and the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of the United States District Courts in Florida .

She is a member of the American Bar Association and a number of insurance industry associations. She is currently serving as Co-Chair of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committe of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation.

SPEECHES, LECTURES AND PAPERS

Ms. Torres is a frequent speaker in continuing legal educational programs and insurance industry conferences. She has been a speaker on topics ranging from fraud, advanced personal injury practice, civil discovery, insurance law and litigation and ethics, at these representative events:

Property Loss Research Bureau, American Bar Association, National Business Institute,Joint DIF/SIU Insurance Fraud Conference, South Florida Claims Association and Florida Defense Lawyers Association.

Ms. Torres has been approved to instruct adjuster continuing education by the Florida Department of Financial Services.

Charles is in Kubicki Draper’s Miami, Florida office. He is an experienced litigator and trial attorney having tried over eighty cases to jury verdict. Charles’s knowledge and capability has allowed him to have a varied and successful practice representing individuals, corporations, insurance carriers, public and government entities in transportation litigation, premises liability, UM insurance defense, construction accidents, boating accidents, insurance coverage including first-party property damage, and fraud and products liability matters. Charles is a Florida Certified Continuing Education Instructor and is requested to conduct seminars on varying legal topics including bad faith avoidance, comparative negligence in tort law, significant issues in first-party litigation, fraud and insurance coverage issues. As Kubicki Draper’s Chief Diversity Officer, Charles has a passion for driving diversity, equity, and inclusion and mentorship not only in the legal industry, but as a director for the Florida Chapter of National African American Insurance Association (NAAIA, Florida Chapter), he continues to play an integral role in encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion in the insurance industry as well.