Speaker Bios

Sarah Abrams is the Head of Claims at Baleen Specialty, a division of Bowhead Specialty. Baleen Specialty is a technology forward underwriter of wholesale and surplus lines insurance commercial general liability and professional lines policies. Sarah was previously the Head of Professional Liability Claims at Bowhead Specialty. In that role, she oversaw the management of Directors and Officers, Management Liability and Errors and Omissions claims for Public and Private Company insureds. Sarah previously practiced law at insurance coverage and defense firms in Chicago after graduating from Chicago Kent College of Law. She earned her liberal arts degree, majoring in Psychology from Duke University in North Carolina. Prior to joining Bowhead, Sarah was a Director of Management Liability Claims at Markel, having worked within the insurance industry as counsel and in claims management for over fifteen years. Sarah has spoken on numerous industry panels and has been published in various industry periodicals and internet publications including Law360, CLM Magazine, and the D&O Diary. 

Rebecca joined the firm in 2020 and is the managing partner of the Gartner + Bloom Florida office. Rebecca primarily practices in the area of third party liability coverage and third party liability defense. Prior to joining the firm, Rebecca practiced general and professional liability coverage, bad faith and third party liability defense in Tampa, Florida. Rebecca received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music in 1995 from Syracuse University. In 1997, she received her Master of Arts degree in Advertising from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and her Juris Doctorate in 1998 from the Syracuse University College of Law.
 
Rebecca is admitted to practice before all state courts in New York and Florida and the United States District Courts for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, the District of Columbia and the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th and 11th Circuits and the Supreme Court of the United States. Rebecca has authored and co-authored several articles concerning liability insurance coverage for various publications, and is a frequent lecturer on coverage related topics. 

Mr. Beemer has 45 years in the insurance industry and is retired and doing consulting and expert witness work through Suite 200 Solutions.  Previously he was the VP of Claims at Tokio Marine HCC Insurance Group.  Prior to TMHCC, Mr. Beemer worked at IAT, QBE, Aetna, CNA, Home Insurance, Risk Enterprise Management and Fireman's Fund Insurance Company.   At QBE Mr. Beemer lead the liability claims department and the Litigation Management department for QBE.  He had direct oversight of Litigation Management, Transportation, GL, CD, TPA Services and Environmental claims.  Prior to QBE Mr. Beemer was the National Claim Director for Construction Defect, Latent Injury and Entertainment Claims at Fireman's Fund Insurance Company. In his career he has been a chief technical officer, consultant to re-insurers, training coordinator, national accounts coordinator, litigation manager, legal auditor, claims and due diligence auditor, PMK, expert witness and has been a panel speaker at CLM and other industry events. He serves on  the Advisory Board for the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, has served as Dean of Litigation Management at Claims College and is a Chancellor and Professor at Litigation Management Institute. Mr. Beemer has authored numerous articles for Claims Management Magazine and Litigation Management Magazine. Mr. Beemer received the CLM Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023 at the Annual Conference in Tampa Florida.

Dan co-founded and serves as the Executive Chairman of Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman, a full service law firm with over 400 attorneys with offices throughout the United States.  In his role as Chairman, Dan is responsible for the high level management of the firm, execution of the firm's strategic vision and ensuring its overall effective operational management. Representing Fortune 500 companies and mid-market businesses, Dan is a recognized authority on commercial and business law, has received Martindale Hubbell's highest rating of "AV Preeminent," and has been selected a California "Super Lawyer" on numerous occasions. Dan's legal work spans matters involving business issues, professional liability, real estate, intellectual property, entertainment endeavors, and construction-related issues.  Dan has worked for many years closely with the domestic and London insurance markets, has successfully tried numerous complex cases to verdict and has been instrumental in several groundbreaking favorable rulings in the appellate realm.  He has served as a court appointed arbitrator and mediator, and serves as monitoring and coordinating counsel for clients throughout the United States.

Memberships and Accomplishments: Firm Chairman, Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman; 2015 –Present, Managing Partner, Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman; 2007 – 2015, Member, Young Presidents' Organization Santa Monica Bay Chapter (YPOSMB); 2009 – Present, Member, Council on Litigation Management, Professional Liability Committee Member, California Building Industry Association Legal Action Subcommittee Member, Professional Liability Defense Federation Member, Defense Research Institute, Technology Committee Member, National Association of Home Builders Construction Law Attorney Forum Member, Building Industry Association of Southern California Member, Association of Southern California Defense Counsel (ASCDC) Member, Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. (RIMS) Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America Quarterly Contributor to Residential Design and Build Magazine, AV Preeminent Lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell, Certified Continuing Legal Education Instructor at the Litigation Management Institute (LMI) at Columbia University Law School.

Christopher J. (Chris) Butler is a Managing Director overseeing the Professional and Management Liability claims groups in North America and Bermuda for Markel, which encompasses all E&O and D&O claims as well as the Environmental and Construction Defect claims groups. He held a similar position at Alterra prior to its merger with Markel. Before this he spent over nine years with The Hartford managing the Financial Services E&O and D&O claims group. Chris received his law degree from St. John's University School of Law.

Christopher A. Carucci is Vice President of Client Services for Gallagher Bassett. His responsibilities include oversight of large national accounts, claim management and litigation management.  Previously, Chris was in a claim leadership role at Everest National Insurance Company. Chris was responsible for managing the Casualty, Auto, Property, Excess, and Professional Liability Claim Departments as well as overseeing Litigation Management, SIU and Compliance. Prior to joining Everest National Insurance Company, Chris was a leader within the Specialties Claims Organization of Zurich North America managing the Professional Liability Claim Department.  He also was played a significant role in litigation management.  Chris worked at AIG before joining Zurich North America. At AIG, he managed a nationwide caseload of bad faith, coverage and high exposure Casualty claims. Chris also was involved in litigation management and conducting training for claims personnel.
 
Chris is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York Bar Association, the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (Advisory Board Member), the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, USLAW (Client Advisory Board), Defense Research Institute and NRRDA. He is a professor at the CLM Litigation Management Institute and a frequent speaker at industry events on topics including claim management, litigation management and good faith claim handling.  He earned his B.A. degree from Fairfield University and his J.D. from New York Law School.

Dan Costello, Founder and Managing Partner of Costello Ginex & Wideikis,  is currently recognized as a national expert in litigation management, complex case litigation, and trial practice.  In 2014 he was one of four finalists for the Claim and Litigation Management (CLM) Outside Counsel of the Year, selected from nearly 40,000 members. He is a Advisory Board member for CLM, Co-Chair of the Anti-Nuclear Verdict Task Force, Co-Chair of the Litigation Management Symposium (LMS), and a Chancellor of Litigation Management Institute (LMI) held at Loyola Law school in Chicago.

Over the last three years, Dan's litigation practice has continued to grow, as has the firms growing portfolio of litigation based solutions.   Dan has been retained as lead counsel in complex cases including lead trial counsel in two cases of first impression in Illinois  including the loss of opportunity to have a biological child for 66 plaintiffs in a Cryogenic tank malfunction, and a class action lawsuit in litigation of Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) dealing with statutory/punitive damages.  He has also been retained in complex litigation including the collapse of a tent resulting in multiple fatalities and 19 plaintiffs' claims and recently resolved construction litigation brought on behalf of a national retailer that spanned seven states, and involved insurance disputes with twenty-two separate insurers. 

He also acts as a litigation consultant, billing fees expert, and expert in litigation of complex and construction defect disputes.  He has recently been retained as an expert witness in multiple party litigation in California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, among other states.   Dan also maintains an active practice in consulting with carriers on litigation management strategy, implementation, and improvement.  

Specialties: Construction Litigation, Litigation Management, Expert Fees, Complex litigation, Insurance Coverage, products liability, and construction/design defect

Steve Donnelly is currently the Chief Claims Officer for Amerisure Insurance.  In that capacity he is responsible for all aspects of Amerisure Claims Operations and a member of the C-Level Executive Team responsible for the strategic direction of the Amerisure organization. 

Prior to working at Amerisure Steve was the Regional VP for QBE's Midwest Claims Region.  He also headed up the Litigation Management Group for Liberty Mutual’s Regional Companies. The Lit Management Group was responsible for development of litigation related procedures and protocols, advising on complex and specialized claims and maximizing the effectiveness of the Regional Companies’ claims litigation management efforts.  Mr. Donnelly joined Liberty Mutual in 2007 with the acquisition of The Ohio Casualty Group.

Mr. Donnelly joined the Ohio Casualty Insurance Company in 2001 serving as the Managing Attorney for their Illinois and Indiana staff counsel offices from 2002 to 2004. He was then named Director of Claims Litigation for Ohio Casualty during which he led the expansion of their staff counsel operation into Detroit, MI; Hartford, CT; and Seattle, WA; oversaw claims compliance and was ultimately in charge of ten legal offices spanning the country.  In 2006 he was named Regional Vice President of Claims for Ohio Casualty’s Western Region which covered 14 states spanning from Iowa to Alaska.

Mr. Donnelly started his career in 1995 handling insurance defense litigation in Cook County, Illinois for Garretson & Santora and later with O’Connor, Schiff & Myers.

Kerry has a diverse background having worked for a Plaintiff’s attorney, for a legal auditing company and over 23 years’ experience in the property and casualty insurance industry. Currently, she oversees the litigation management team at USLI managing the defense counsel panel and trial strategy. Prior to joining USLI, she handled complex claims for Great American Environmental and AXA XL. Her claims experience includes environmental, toxic tort, products liability, automobile, general liability, and commercial excess files. Last year, she was nominated for the CLM Professional of the Year Award for Litigation Management. In addition, she received her CLMP in 2020 .
 

Stephanie has almost 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, including as a casualty claims analyst (American Family Insurance), an attorney in private practice (Troutman Sanders LLP), and as in-house counsel (QBE and Amerisure). In her current role at Amerisure Stephanie has primary responsibility for managing litigation by and against the company, providing coverage advice to all lines of business, and public policy work.  In addition, Stephanie provides other legal counsel to the Claims, Underwriting and Product departments and conducts training on various issues for the company. 

Amy Jenkins has practiced employment law since 1993 and chairs the firm’s employment law practice group. She is a South Carolina Supreme Court Certified Specialist in Labor & Employment Law, as well as a certified mediator. Amy handles all aspects of employment law, including litigation pending in federal and state courts and claims pending with state and federal agencies, including the EEOC, SHAC and DOL. Amy has extensive experience in drafting and evaluating policies, handbooks and contracts, and she regularly conducts training for clients, including anti-harassment training. She helps employers conduct internal compliance audits and routinely counsels clients in matters related to hiring, terminations, wage and hour issues, harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, wrongful discharge, ERISA, non-compete agreements, trade secrets and other issues. Amy is also the co-author of the chapter “Fair Labor Standards Act” included in Labor and Employment Law for South Carolina Lawyers, a book published by the South Carolina Bar.

EDUCATION:
University of Virginia School of Law (JD)
University of New Hampshire Honors Program (BA, magna cum laude)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
South Carolina Bar Association (Former Chair - Employment and Labor Law Section)
South Carolina Supreme Court Employment and Labor Law Specialization Advisory Board (Chair, 2021; Member, 2017-2023)
Charleston County Bar Association
North Carolina Bar Association
North Carolina State Bar
 

J.D.’s practice focuses on civil litigation with an emphasis on construction, professional lines defense, real estate litigation, catastrophic loss, commercial litigation and first party defense.  He currently serves as the Litigation Practice and Process Leader for the firm.  He is a frequent speaker on Litigation Management and Industry related trends and topics.  He has been fortunate to be an instructor at CLM's Litigation Management Institute and a Dean for the School of Litigation Management at the CLM Claims College.  

 He is a member of the Wake County Bar Association, the Mecklenburg County Bar Association, the North Carolina State Bar, the North Carolina Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Claims and Litigation Management Association (CLM), PLUS and the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys. Mr. Keister currently serves on the Executive Board for the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys.  He has previosly served as Chair of the Construction, Amicus and CLE Committee.  He has also previously served as the co-chair of CLE for the NCBA Construction Section, and on the board of the Eastern North Carolina Chapter of CLM, currently serving as its President. He is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been named a Rising Star in North Carolina Super Lawyers. He has also been featured in North Carolina Business Leader Magazine and the Book of Leaders Legal Section of Charlotte Business Leader.  He has been honored in the North Carolina Business Journal's Legal Elite and maintains an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell.

Martha is an insurance professional and Illinois licensed attorney with over 26 years of experience in Claims and Corporate Legal. Her past experience includes managing extra-contractual litigation and coverage for QBE on a Nationwide basis, handling litigated claims and coverage for Country Financial and Claims for State Farm as well as trial experience with Nally Haasis Jordan and Bauer. She authored Lexis Nexis  -Chapter 18 of New Appleman on Insurance, Law Library Edition entitled Duty to Indemnify – Bodily Injury and Property Damage which was cited by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Schinner v Gundrum, 349 Wis.2nd 529 ( June 2013). She has been a guest speaker for the Defense Research Institute, Alpha International and CLM. She is a past vice-president of the Champaign County Bar Association and past President of the East-Central Illinois Women Attorneys Association.

Matthew Morrison has years of experience focusing on complex claims, litigation management and insurance coverage issues from both the perspective of an insurer as well an attorney in private practice. In his current position with American Faminly Insurance he is responsible for all litigation outcomes across the enterprise including claims and corporate litigation. He is admitted to practice before the state courts of Illinois and Wisconsin, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Wisconsin State Bar Association, Claims & Litigation Management Alliance Advisory Board and serves as a professor at CLM’s Litigation Management Institute. In 2013 Matt was named Litigation Management Professional of the Year by CLM.

Dale Porfilio joined the Insurance Information Institute in 2021 as its Chief Insurance Officer. In this role, he oversees the Research and Education division, working closely with Triple-I subject-matter experts to develop data-driven industry insights and analyses. He also serves as a media spokesperson on thought-leadership matters and delivers board-level presentations at industry events and to Triple-I member companies.

Dale previously was senior vice president and corporate chief actuary at Genworth Financial, where he was responsible for the actuarial practice for all product lines and countries. Before that he was vice president and chief actuary at Kemper Corp., where he was responsible for pricing, reserving, predictive modeling, catastrophe management, and product management. He began his career at Allstate, working on pricing, product, research, and catastrophe risk modeling.

Dale is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS), Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA), and summa cum laude graduate of DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. He and his wife, Carol, reside in Chicago, Ill., and are parents of three adult daughters.

Cathleen is a partner and shareholder at Rebar Kelly. She has been advising and counseling clients in complex litigation matters for over two decades. She represents leading insurance companies and their insureds in multi-faceted matters involving violations of professional standards of care. Cathleen’s representation extends to design professionals, architects, engineers, contractors, surveyors, appraisers, environmental consultants, agents, brokers, service providers, medical professionals, business professionals, food manufacturers and distributors and property owners.

Cathleen has represented clients in the following types of claims:

duty to represent dangerous conditions inadequate security failure to advise, failure to implement design specifications failure to supervise, failure to inspect design defects errors in professional judgment and failure to refer failure to meet/inform of deadlines failure to diagnose and misdiagnosis emergency medical care and nursing mistakes mental health issues corporate liability subcontractor responsibility/indemnification indemnity and obtaining coverage under additional insured status failure to warn

Cathleen has defended one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers in claims of medical malpractice. She has also represented design professionals in legal matters stemming from defective design of electrical equipment resulting in multiple claims and lawsuits. Cathleen has been defending one of the region’s largest real estate brokers in errors and omissions matters for over a decade. She has also represented physicians in connection with allegations of failing to properly diagnose, as well as long-term care facilities against allegations of inappropriate preventative measures for the avoidance of pressure sores. Cathleen also defended one of the country’s largest retail suppliers of electronics in claims of product defects and premise liability matters.

Education: Villanova University School of Law, J.D., 1998 & Long Island University, B.A., 1995, magna cum laude
 

 

Erik Scheinfeldt has years of experience working in private practice and in the industry on the carrier side. While in private practice, Erik represented both Plaintiffs and Defendants in tort cases, business and property disputes, and general litigation matters.  For the past 12 years, Erik has worked on the carrier side – first with Hanover Insurance, and now with AmTrust Financial.  He has had extensive experience working in Legal Bill Review and also as a Claims Adjuster.  In his current role with AmTrust (AVP, Counsel Management Unit), Erik is responsible for the oversight and management of the Claims Department’s nationwide panel of defense and coverage firms.  Erik earned his B.A. degree from American University and his J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law.  He is admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and has recently joined the faculty with CLM’s Litigation Management Institute.

Mr.  Winkler is responsible for overseeing Westfield Insurance’s litigation management and legal research support functions .  He has been a featured speaker and author on the topic of litigation management and the use of technology in enhancing the litigation management process, drawing upon both his experience as a practicing attorney and on his 20 plus years of experience in the claims and litigation management arena. The Westfield Claims Legal Department, which he leads, was recently honored as one of the ten most innovative legal departments in America by Inside Counsel magazine.

Mr. Winkler is an active member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel, numerous professional organizations including the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, the Defense Research Institute and the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance and currently serves as a member and advisor on a number of industry related committees.

Dr. Daniel Wolfe is a Senior Director of Jury Consulting at Magna Legal Services, a full-service litigation consulting and strategic communications firm.

Dr. Wolfe provides research-based and experiential data analysis to trial teams nationwide and oversees the standards in practice of Magna’s jury consulting team. Dr. Wolfe works on high-profile and large-exposure litigation involving such matters as antitrust, product liability, intellectual property, professional malpractice, environmental, and securities. He consults on national litigation matters pertaining to a variety of industries, including automotive, airline, pharmaceutical, petroleum/petrochemical, biotech, and medical. As an expert in the fields of witness preparation, voir dire, and jury selection, he is also skilled in providing quantitative and qualitative analyses of venues through focus groups and mock trials.

As a jury consultant and researcher since 1986, he has been in the national spotlight on numerous occasions for his work on high-profile criminal and civil cases involving celebrities and professional athletes. He has appeared as a commentator on both local and national talk shows and has been quoted in a wide range of media, including national publications such as The National Law Journal, Lawyers Weekly, Newsweek, and USA Today. He has authored many articles and book chapters on the subjects of juries, juror perceptions, ethics in trial consulting, and the interrelation of attorney gender and courtroom bias. Dr. Wolfe has over 30 years of jury consulting research experience and has worked on over 1,800 cases.