Honoring the Excellence Around Us

I always reserve a few surprises for unveiling at our annual conference each year—everybody knows that nobody knows where the 2018 conference will be—but there are a few things I’d like to share prior to the show.

Most notably, we as an organization are proud to honor the hardworking professionals who make not only their companies and firms so great, but also ours by recognizing them in the CLM Professionals of the Year awards program. As with past nominees and winners, this year’s contenders provide excellent examples of hard work and dedication not only in their own careers, but also in the way they step up to the CLM plate and help out planning conferences, presenting webinars, writing articles, and sharing knowledge. While it’s cliché to say, “It’s an honor just to be nominated,” we hope all of our nominees feel the true weight of recognition for their contributions because without them, we wouldn’t be nearly as strong.

With that said, after reviewing hundreds of entries, we have selected and would like to share the finalists for 2017’s CLM Professionals of the Year awards program. All finalists will be recognized and the winners announced during the CLM Annual Conference’s opening session on March 29, 2017, in Nashville. Fittingly, it will take place on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, itself known as a place that honors and celebrates its own history and valuable contributors to it. (We’ll do our best to avoid an Oscars-type flub.)

Congratulations to all of our finalists, and you can look forward to hearing more from the winners in an upcoming issue.

Claims Professional of the Year:

•     Veronica Bundt, Provider Relations Specialist, Pinnacol Assurance

•     Mitchell Dane-Henry, Claims Manager, Retail Properties of America Inc.

•     Todd Schweitzer, Assistant Vice President, Zurich North America

•     Lisa Unger, Senior Claims Examiner, Markel Service Inc.

Litigation Professional of the Year:

•     Mike Cronin, Senior Claims Counsel, Westfield Group

•     Eileen Jenkins, National Construction Defect Manager, Tristar Risk Management

•     Shawnae Robey, Assistant General Counsel, Bar-S Foods Co.

•     Caryn Siebert, VP/Head of Claims, Knight Insurance Group

Outside Counsel Professional of the Year:

•     Jerry Hamilton, Hamilton, Miller & Birthisel

•     Angela Kopet, Carlock, Copeland, and Stair

•     Jennifer Oxman, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith

•     Robert Ryder, Wolfe & Wyman