EECMA 2014 Speaker Biographies (click for speaker index) Tom Alleman Tom Alleman is a shareholder in the Dallas Office of Cox Smith, where his practice focuses on complex environmental, financial institutions, and disaster litigation. Tom has been extensively involved in natural gas and other explosion cases throughout the south central United States and currently is involved in the consolidated litigation arising out of the February 2013 natural gas explosion in Kansas City, Missouri. George Ammon George Ammon is a Vice President in the APH Direct Claims Department of Westport Insurance Corporation, a subsidiary of Swiss Re Solutions Holding Corporation located in Armonk, New York. George is responsible for various asbestos, pollution and health hazard claims arising out of legacy Westport policies. George joined the Swiss Re/Westport in 2008. George began his insurance career as a Marine Claims Adjuster acting on behalf of various London and Scandinavian underwriters. Prior to joining Swiss Re, George worked as a Professional Liability Claims Adjuster in the Architects and Engineers Claim Departments of The Hartford and then Liberty International Underwriters. George first gained his asbestos and pollution experience while working for a New York law firm where he represented various Lloyds underwriters and then in the Claims Department of Odyssey Re. George earned his JD from Tulane University School of Law in 1988. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1984 and he attended Graduate School at Loyola University of Chicago in 1984 to 1985.
Michael F. Aylward Michael F. Aylward is a senior partner in the Boston office of Morrison Mahoney LLP where he chairs the firm's complex insurance claims resolution group. For the past thirty-two years, Mr. Aylward has represented insurers and reinsurers in coverage disputes around the country concerning the application of liability insurance policies to commercial claims involving intellectual property disputes, environmental and mass tort claims and construction defect litigation. He has also advised various medical malpractice insurers concerning professional liability claims and consults frequently on bad faith and ethics disputes. He has also served as an arbitrator and testified as an expert in various matters involving coverage and reinsurance issues arising out of such claims. Mr. Aylward has taken a leadership role in various legal organizations including DRI, IADC and FDCC and is a founding member of the American College of Coverage and Extra-Contractual Lawyers. Lauren Bayly Lauren Bayly provides claims and risk management support to both the Architects & Engineers and Environmental teams at Beazley. Ms. Bayly joined Beazley in August 2010 after practicing with a civil litigation firm in Boston, Massachusetts. Lauren also spent over seven years with a large US insurer managing complex toxic tort and environmental matters. Lauren obtained her B.S. from Bucknell University and her J.D. from the University of Connecticut, School of Law. Lauren is licensed to practice law in the state of Connecticut and has practiced pro hac vice in Massachusetts and New York. Eric E. Bensen Eric E. Bensen is Of Counsel to Vandenberg & Feliu LLP in New York and advises clients on complex intellectual property issues. He is a coauthor of Milgrim on Trade Secrets, Milgrim on Licensing, and Patent Licensing Transactions, three leading intellectual property treatises, Bensen & Myers on Litigation Management, a groundbreaking book that sets forth a sophisticated methodology for efficiently managing complex litigations, Intellectual Property in Bankruptcy and New York
Intellectual Property Law. He has taught patent, copyright, and intellectual property licensing classes as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Hofstra University School of Law and was in practice for more than 12 years in New York with Dewey Ballantine and then Paul Hastings during which time he specialized in intellectual property litigation and licensing. For more information, please visit www.ericbensen.com. Thomas P. Bernier Thomas P. Bernier is a trial attorney in the Baltimore office of Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney, Ltd. Mr. Bernier defends product manufacturers and hospitality, retail and housing industry clients in toxic tort, products liability and premises liability litigation. Since 2011, Mr. Bernier has defended clients involved in the ownership and management of senior living facilities, hotels, resorts, shopping centers, and apartment buildings who are facing Legionnaires disease claims nationwide. He has obtained favorable summary judgment rulings and rulings excluding the opinions of plaintiffs expert witnesses on source identification and other critical and emerging issues in Legionnaires disease litigation. In addition to defending matters in suit, he counsels clients facing federal and state public health investigations involving suspected Legionnaires disease outbreaks and train corporate general counsel and insurance and risk management professionals on risk avoidance, risk mitigation, and risk transfer opportunities. Ken Burrell Ken Burrell is a Managing Director for Synapse Services, has over ten years of experience in the environmental insurance and consulting industries. His current responsibilities include direct management of the southeast region and the geographic expansion of Synapse Services throughout the U.S. and Canada. Prior to joining Synapse Services, Mr. Burrell was the Executive Vice President and division head of the Corporate Accounts division of AIG Environmental, a $700m division of AIG. As division head, his responsibilities included oversight of new business production, renewal retention, profitability, human resource management and day-today operations of the Corporate Accounts business segment (including 15 regional offices and pollution and casualty product lines). He was also responsible for long-term strategy and overall underwriting performance of the Corporate Accounts business segment. Mr. Burrell reported directly to the President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to his role as Executive Vice President, Mr. Burrell held various regional underwriting and management positions within AIG Environmental, in both the Corporate Accounts and National Accounts business segments. In these positions, he
structured numerous environmental insurance placements covering a diverse compilation of environmental and casualty risks. More specifically, Mr. Burrell negotiated insurance programs for many of the nation s largest environmental consulting, contracting and waste management companies. He was also responsible for the underwriting oversight of numerous high profile projects including, but not limited to, The NY World Trade Center redevelopment and The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, GA. Prior to entering the insurance field, Mr. Burrell served as an Environmental Geologist and Project Manager with an Atlanta-based environmental engineering firm. In these positions, he was responsible for business development and technical oversight of environmental site assessments, site characterizations and remediation projects for regional and Fortune 500 clients. Mr. Burrell, a frequent speaker at insurance trade and environmental technical conferences, received his undergraduate degree from Georgia State University in Environmental Geology. Ann Marie Collins Ann Marie Collins is Vice President and Team Leader of Swiss Re's APH Insurance Claims and member of the Asbestos/Latent Products Network, located in Armonk, NY. Ann Marie has 21 years of insurance and reinsurance experience as both an attorney and a claims professional. She practiced law in NY, NJ, and CT for 16 years, representing insurers and insureds in a variety of types of coverage disputes throughout the country, including environmental, asbestos, product liability, directors & officers, and employer s liability. Wm. Chip D Angelo Wm. Chip D Angelo, is founder and president of WCD Group, LLC, a sophisticated environmental and construction risk management practice. He currently manages complex and long-term environmental programs for owners and developers, their lenders, insurance companies and attorneys. Chip demonstrates specific skills and 34 years of hands-on experience in managing and growing environmental service, industrial hygiene, consulting, engineering, and remedial contracting businesses. He has extensive hands-on experience in operations and environmental program management. In addition, Chip has experience in financing projects, developing P3 strategies and projects, raising capital and executing alliances, mergers & acquisitions with both public and private clients and firms in the environmental industry. He also
assists insurance and legal firms in claims and litigation support, and qualifies as an environmental, construction and asbestos expert. Michael Diggin Michael Diggin, Esq., Vice President, Swiss Reinsurance America Corp., has 18 years of reinsurance experience as a Claims Counsel and Claims Professional. Since joining Swiss Re in 2004 in the APH Reinsurance Unit, he has handled Asbestos, Pollution, and Health Hazard reinsurance claims. Previously, Mike was an associate with the Baach Robinson & Lewis law firm in Washington, D.C., including a 6-month secondment to Equitas in London. Education: State University of New York at Binghamton (B.A.) and University of Baltimore (J.D.), as well as Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter, Associate in Reinsurance, and Associate in Risk Management. Michael is licensed to practice law in NY and "retired" from the Bar in D.C. and CT. Noel Edlin Noel Edlin defends clients throughout the U.S. in high-stakes environmental, toxic tort, and product liability matters. He has successfully tried numerous cases to verdict during his 30 years of practicing law. Noel earned his Juris Doctorate in 1982 from UC Hastings College of the Law, where he was Managing Editor for the Hastings Communications & Entertainment Law Journal from 1981-1982. He served on the California Bar Association's Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation, and is the former Chair of the San Francisco Bar Association's Judiciary Committee. Noel is the Managing Partner at Bassi Edlin Huie & Blum LLP, a law firm of trial specialists with offices in downtown San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. Under Noel s leadership, the firm makes intelligent investments in continuing education and information technology to work smarter, decrease costs for clients, and stay on the cutting edge of e-discovery. To contact Noel, or learn more about Bassi Edlin Huie & Blum, visit www.behblaw.com. Brent L. Finley Brent L. Finley, Ph.D, D.A.B.T., is a board-certified toxicologist with over 20 years of experience conducting and managing studies involving chemical exposure and human health risk assessment. He has a bachelor s degree from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology/Toxicology from Washington State University. Over the last 15 years,
he has authored over 500 health risk assessments. He has published over 60 peerreviewed articles describing various health risk assessments. He is a Managing Principal at Cardno ChemRisk. Laura Foggan Laura Foggan is the Chair of Wiley Rein s Insurance Appellate Practice. She is a nationally-recognized insurer counsel with 20+ years experience litigating CGL, EIL and other coverages. She regularly counsels on emerging risks, and litigates coverage concerning everything from environmental and toxic tort to data breach and privacy, construction, EPL, and bad faith. Laura has participated in over 200 insurance appeals nationwide. LawDragon 500 calls her one of the most successful advocates for the insurance industry to ever practice; Law360 named her among 10 Most Admired Insurance Attorneys. Laura is a past chair of the ABA Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee, a member of the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel and a former Captiva Island Crab race champion, among many other honors. Mark L. Freed Mark L. Freed is co-chair of the Zarwin Baum Environmental Law Practice Group. He concentrates his practice in the areas of environmental and toxic tort law and litigation. He helps regulated industries and individuals address permitting, compliance and enforcement issues with federal, state and local environmental agencies. He helps developers, property owners and lenders navigate the regulatory maze required to address contaminated sites (Brownfields). He also defends cases involving environmental professionals, chemical companies, landlords, and others who require his expertise in environmental and toxic tort litigation. Mark has a wealth of experience handling defense and coverage matters involving environmental and toxic tort issues on behalf of national insurance carriers. Mark was named a Philadelphia Super Lawyer in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In November of 2013, Mark was elected to the Board of Supervisors of Tredyffrin Township, Pennylvania. Mark served eight years as an Assistant Counsel with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. At DEP he was lead counsel to the Southeast Regional Waste Management and Water Supply Management Programs. He also counseled DEP's Storage Tank and Land Recycling (Brownfields) Programs. Mark served two years as a criminal prosecutor in the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Environmental Crimes Section, where he prosecuted cases involving water pollution, hazardous waste and storage tanks.
Mark has argued and tried numerous cases in State and Federal courts including the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Mark also served as an adjunct professor at the Saint Joseph's University Graduate Institute for Public Safety and Environmental Protection and a member the Pennsylvania Environmental Justice Advisory Board. Mark received his B.A., cum laude, from Brandeis University and his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law. He was an Associate Editor of the Villanova Environmental Law Journal. David A. Galbraith David A. Galbraith, MD, is a licensed physician with over 15 years of life sciences consulting experience and 24 years of clinical practice experience. He received his Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Stanford and his Doctor of Medicine from Yale University. He is a principal at Cardno ChemRisk and specializes in understanding and quantifying health risk, with a particular emphasis on human exposures to chemical toxins in a variety of settings. Peter Garchie Peter Garchie is a partner in the San Diego office of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard Smith, a law firm of 900 attorneys and 28 offices. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkley in 1979 and his Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Davis in 1982. He has over thirty years of trial experience and has taken over 70 cases to verdict. His practice emphasizes product liability as well as environmental and toxic tort cases. Laura L. Goodman Laura L. Goodman is a Partner in Sedgwick s Insurance Practices, Property Coverage and Commercial Insurance Litigation Groups. Ms. Goodman represents members of the insurance industry in connection with environmental claims, long-tail asbestos and other mass tort bodily injury claims, and large loss commercial insurance claims. She provides advice and counsel to clients in all phases of legal disputes and is adept at early evaluation and resolution of complex claims as well as litigating issues of critical importance. Prior in-house counsel experience provides her with the ability to focus
clearly on the business and legal goals of each client. She has been lead counsel in cases tried to both juries and the court. She received her B.A. from Miami University (1986) and her J.D. magna cum laude from Indiana University School of Law, Blooomington (1989). James D. Griffin James D. Griffin, Esq., is a partner with Scharnhorst Ast & Kennard, P. C.: First chair trial lawyer in over 30 jury trials, two multi-week arbitrations and numerous bench trials. Mr. Griffin began career handling medical, legal and engineering malpractice cases and product liability cases. He has handled complex contract and tort claims in the healthcare, real estate, mutual fund, hedge fund, telecommunications, banking, manufacturing, agricultural and retail industries; successfully managed class actions involving real estate closing practices, retail fees charged customers, medical monitoring (asbestos), insurance claims practices, airline ticketing practices, natural gas measurement, municipal bond fraud, tax preparation software and others. James has specialized in product liability cases including automobile equipment, asbestos, beryllium, pesticides, medical devices, and gas turbines. Earl Hagström Earl Hagström is an Environmental Litigation Partner residing in Sedgwick LLP s San Francisco, California office. Mr. Hagström litigates groundwater contamination cases involving MtBE, PCE, Perchlorate and CR VI and counsels clients on water rights matters. He also evaluates environmental liabilities, damages and risks for insurance clients facing multi-site and multi-party long-tailed claims. Mr. Hagström was an Exploration Geologist for Phillips Petroleum s Frontier Exploration Group (now Conoco- Phillips) (1978-1982) and an Exploration Supervisor for British Petroleum s North Alaska Group (1982-1986). He holds a B.A. in Geology from Boston University (1976), and a M.S. in Sedimentation and Stratigraphy, magna cum laude from the University of Rhode Island (1978). He earned a J.D. from the University of San Francisco (1990).
Rose Hall Rose Hall P.E., WCD Group, LLC, is a Senior Claims Consultant, Professional Engineer, Construction Risk Insurance Specialist, Certified Litigation Manager and LEED AP certified. Rose acts as Project Manager on environmental and construction risk management projects. Responsibilities include client contract, scope and budget, management of technical resources, communication and reporting. Rose serves as senior consultant and manager of large, complex, high-risk claims and projects. John Henshaw John Henshaw has 35 years of experience in environmental health and safety within the chemical industry and government. On June 13, 2001, he was nominated by the President and subsequently confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 3, 2001 to head the U.S. Department of Labor s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. He is an industrial Hygienist and serves as a teaching affiliate at The Johns Hopkins University, as a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Advisory Board and as a member of the University of Michigan, School of Public Health Alumni Board of Governors. He is a Vice President with Cardno ChemRisk and is recognized nationally and internationally as an authority on worker safety issues. Edward Hinchey Edward Hinchey, P.G. is an environmental and forensic scientist. He is a licensed Professional Geologist and an Independent Consultant with the Independent Consultant Network, a cooperative of senior environmental scientists and engineers providing strategic, forensic and expert services to the private, legal and insurance business sectors. Mr. Hinchey has over 30 years of experience as an environmental scientist during which time he conducted numerous soil, sediment, surface and groundwater investigations to identify responsible parties and provide necessary scientific data for the cleanup at distressed properties under federal and state Superfund, RCRA and Brownfield Programs. He has prepared risk assessments and risk management plans for commercial and industrial operations including the storage and use of hazardous materials and petroleum products. In addition, he has managed thousands of chemical and oil spills. Since 2008, Mr. Hinchey has focused his practice on the environmental issues associated with oil and gas development in the Appalachian Basin. He has conducted environmental investigations associated with gas well completions in the Marcellus and
Utica shale formations; the Trenton-Black River limestone formation; and the Medina, Herkimer and Bradford Sandstone formations. Mr. Hinchey has led groundwater investigations to evaluate potential release of chemicals associated with oil and gas well completions; evaluated reports of stray natural gas; prepared risk management plans and assisted clients with property and liability claims arising from natural gas development in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, West Virginia and Kentucky. Additionally, Mr. Hinchey has prepared environmental risk evaluations associated with oil and gas development in Wyoming, North Dakota, Texas and California. Mr. Hinchey holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Juniata College; an M.S. in Environmental Science (Environmental Chemistry) from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and an M.A. in Geology from Syracuse University. Mr. Hinchey has published on contaminant hydrogeology; potable water use and scarcity, scientific ethics, bedrock and glacial geomorphology; environmental chemistry; geophysical sedimentology; carbonate bank sedimentology; potable water supply development; and the sedimentological history and evolution of glacial lakes in New York, Montana and Canada. Peter W. Johnson Peter W. Johnson is the founder and CEO of Johnson Wright, Inc. Peter has over thirty years of experience in environmental and groundwater engineering, project management, litigation support, environmental forensic investigations, forensic evaluation of engineering costs, evaluation of reasonable and necessary environmental costs, estimation and modeling of future environmental costs, optimizing environmental and investigations and regulatory strategies, and expert witness testimony. His experience includes hazardous waste projects, including project engineering for major soil and groundwater investigations, remediation of solvents, petroleum hydrocarbons and metals in soil and groundwater, regulatory program development and management, evaluation of natural resource damages, groundwater flow and contaminant transport modeling, technical peer review, third party administration and mediation for multi-party sites, evaluation of claimed environmental costs, water quality engineering and regulatory negotiation, and development of major data collection, management and analytical systems.
Peter Kelso Peter Kelso is an expert on mass tort and product liability litigation. Mr. Kelso, with Bates, White advises clients on identifying risks associated with emerging litigation and specializes in developing strategies to quantify, estimate, and mitigate potential damages. He provides clients with expertise in product liability litigation, insurance coverage negotiations, mergers and acquisitions, liability ring fencing activities and bankruptcy reorganizations. Mr. Kelso has advised many of the top investment firms on Wall Street on quantifying current and future potential costs associated with asbestos claims and other mass tort and environmental litigation and has given numerous speeches for the financial and legal communities. Mr. Kelso has spoken about emerging legal issues at conferences hosted by the AEI-Brookings Institute, Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, Bank of America Securities, LexisNexis Butterworths, and Citigroup. Mr. Kelso currently leads a working group of top international corporations and insurers on examining the risks associated with asbestos and other toxic tort litigation. Mr. Kelso first began assessing the near and long term valuation of asbestos claims and other mass tort litigation for financial clients in 1999. He advised many of the top investment firms on Wall Street regarding the legal and financial implications of companies facing liabilities associated with asbestos, lead, welding rods, diacetyl, silica and pharmaceutical and medical devices. During this time, Mr. Kelso was the Senior Editor of the LexisNexis Mealey s Asbestos Liability Report and founded LexisNexis Asbestos Bankruptcy Report and International Asbestos Liability Report. Prior to joining Bates White, Mr. Kelso was a Vice-President with Litigation Resolution Group (LRG). Jason Kort Jason Kort is an associate with Berkes Crane Robinson & Seal LLP. His practice currently focuses on insurance coverage, medical malpractice, toxic torts, and product liability litigation, including the defense of mesothelioma and lung cancer asbestos cases. He has successfully defended a medical malpractice action before a jury in Santa Monica for his client. He authored New Hospital Data Supports Medical Bills Decision, which was published in the Daily Journal in May 2013. The article was recently cited in an amicus curiae brief filed by the Civil Justice Association of California. He has also been recognized by Pasadena Magazine as a Top Civil Litigator for two years in a row (2012-2013).
Steve Kunzman Steve Kunzman is a partner in the New Jersey firm: DiFrancesco, Bateman, Coley, Yospin Kunzman, Davis, Lehrer & Flaum. Steve received a bachelor s degree from Colgate University and a J.D and Masters of Studies in Environmental Law (M.S.E.L.) from Vermont Law School. Steve s trial experience includes serving as lead or co-lead trial counsel in numerous state and federal actions, including multi-week trials involving alleged chemical releases and exposures; asbestos exposures; products liability actions; insurance coverage matters; and handling suits under Superfund and the NJ Spill Act,. In his spare time Steve is a musician and songwriter. Steve has been fortunate to have been selected to study songwriting with Grammy winner Rosanne Cash. Steve has recently completed his second CD, Back Home. In 2009 Steve was interviewed in New Jersey Super Lawyers about his work as a lawyer and a songwriter. He was quoted in the article, Being a lawyer and being a songwriter deal with the truth but in very different ways. Lawyering you try to find the truth through facts. Songwriting facts are somewhat beside the point. Steve has been selected as a NJ Super Lawyer in environmental litigation for the past 9 years and is A-V Rated by Martindale & Hubbell. T. H. Lyda T. H. Lyda is a litigator with more than 20 years of experience. T.H. Lyda concentrates his practice in occupational disease, toxic tort and products liability litigation. He serves on Burns White's Executive Committee. T.H. has extensive experience litigating repetitive stress injury and occupational illness cases throughout the eastern United States. He serves as National Coordinating Counsel for two Class I railroads with respect to their occupational illness dockets. T.H. has litigated numerous environmental and personal injury cases on behalf of manufacturers and distributors, including claims of brain damage, pulmonary disease and various cancers due to alleged chemical and toxic exposure. Brian Margolies Brian Margolies is a partner at Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP. His practice is devoted exclusively to insurance matters, primarily involving environmental, professional and general liability policies. He regularly counsels insurance carriers on insurance coverage, regulatory, and bad faith issues, and represents clients in coverage litigation throughout the country. Brian is the editor of the Traub Lieberman Straus &
Shrewsberry LLP Insurance Coverage blog. He is a frequent lecturer and author of numerous articles, and is a co-editor of the ABA's Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee Newsletter. Brian is a 1995 graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and a 1998 graduate of the Boston College School of Law. Michael Marsden Michael Marsden is currently a Principal Hydrogeologist for Roux Associates, Inc. in their San Francisco office. Michael holds a degree in Hydrogeology from San Diego State University and is a registered professional geologist and certified hydrogeologist in the State of California. Michael has over 26 years of environmental consulting experience including hydrogeologic analysis, complex site assessment and remediation, contaminant timing and source analysis, allocation assessment, financial auditing, expert witness, and insurance claim evaluation. Bryna Rosen Misiura Bryna Rosen Misiura is a partner in the Governo Law Firm LLC, Boston. She is a Martindale-Hubbell AV Peer Rated attorney specializing in the defense of toxic tort, mass tort, coverage and environmental actions. She manages the Firm s asbestos litigation practice in the Federal Courts, and serves on the Executive Committee for the Massachusetts Federal Asbestos Litigation. She also participates in the management of national litigations through the Firm s role as national coordinating counsel for several clients. Ms. Misiura has written, co-authored, and presented on a wide variety of topics. She most recently presented at an EECMA Annual Spring Conference in 2011, when she co-presented on Using Social Media: Creative Investigation and Trial Strategies in Toxic Tort Litigation. Ms. Misiura teaches legal practice topics as an instructor at a local college. Ms. Misiura has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in 2012 and 2013. John Morris John Morris is Honeywell s Remediation Director responsible for the cleanup and redevelopment of legacy sites where historical manufacturing resulted in soil and groundwater impacts. Mr. Morris helps to develop long term strategy for dealing with legacy issues and has managed many of the company s major projects that combine redevelopment with remediation. In building stakeholder consensus for these projects,
he has had the opportunity to work closely with regulators, communities, and other interested parties to integrate sustainable planning and thinking into the remediation and redevelopment process. Mr. Morris has over 35 years experience in the environmental field in both corporate and consulting capacities. He has undergraduate degrees in English and Engineering and a graduate degree in Environmental Engineering. He is also a licensed professional engineer. Christopher P. Morrison Christopher P. Morrison is a Vice President and Coverage Counsel at Swiss Re. He works in the New York City office of the Corporate Solutions Division of Swiss Re handling a variety of sophisticated casualty claims for Fortune 1000 companies. The bulk of his work is in Products Liability cases. Prior to his current role, Chris worked for Swiss Re as a claims professional on wide-ranging structured risk programs involving general liability, NatCat, medical malpractice, APH, and Workers Compensation programs. He has served on the Board of Directors for Facility Insurance Company, a Swiss Re subsidiary. Prior to joining Swiss Re in 2004, Chris worked for over a decade in private practice. He served as Counsel to Smith, Stratton, Wise, Heher & Brennan representing carriers in coverage disputes as well as defending insureds in products liability and construction defect matters. He also worked for the State of New Jersey as an appellate attorney for the Public Defender and as a Deputy Attorney General in the Division of Criminal Justice. He clerked for the Hon. A. Simon Chrein and the Hon. Steven M. Gold, both of the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn). Chris graduated Fordham University School of Law with a J.D. in 1991. He earned his bachelor's degree from Manhattan College (the finest institution for higher learning in the northeastern United States) in 1987. Rebecca Myers Rebecca Myers is Of Counsel to Vandenberg & Feliu, LLP where she is a member of the firm's Litigation Department. She concentrates her practice on intellectual property law, e-discovery issues and commercial litigation. Ms. Myers has significant experience managing litigations and effectively handling e-discovery issues. She has also run multiple significant matters for a number of Fortune 50 clients. She has adjudicated
disputes through arbitration and in several state and federal courts. She has counseled and litigated on behalf of clients engaged in a diverse field of businesses including financial advisors, investment banks and insurance, pharmaceutical, industrial and chemical companies. Ms. Myers co-authored Bensen & Myers on Litigation Management (LexisNexis 2009), a leading publication on the efficient and thorough management of litigation matters. She concentrates her practice on intellectual property law, e-discovery issues and commercial litigation. Ms. Myers received her B.S. degree, cum laude, from Syracuse University and her J.D. degree, cum laude, from Syracuse University School of Law where she was an Associate Editor of the Law Review. Michael J. Naughton Michael J. Naughton is a member and co-chair of Wolff & Samson's Environmental Group. A seasoned environmental litigator with over 30 years of experience, he focuses primarily on environmental and energy issues, including climate change and hydrofracking. Michael also regularly advises clients on real estate transactions, providing environmental counseling to sellers, buyers, landlords and tenants in the sale and leasing of commercial property. In addition, he advises clients on the redevelopment of contaminated properties, focusing on permitting, environmental due diligence and contractual allocation of environmental risks in transactions. Michael also advises on environmental insurance products that protect clients against remediation cost overruns and legal costs. He has a national CERCLA practice and has litigated a wide variety of environmental cases on behalf of insureds and other clients throughout the United States. Jeffrey E. Picard Jeffrey E. Picard The VERTEX Companies Mr. Picard is the co-founder and serves as President and COO of The VERTEX Companies, Inc., and has been responsible for Management, Operations, Strategy and Business Development roles and responsibilities since VERTEX's inception in 1995. More specifically Mr. Picard has established and managed new profit centers, managed operations, been a leader in developing and launching corporate strategy, and has developed and managed large VERTEX accounts and markets. In addition, Mr. Picard developed and launched VERTEX's international strategy in 2002. Mr. Picard also works on numerous technical projects in the construction and
environmental fields. Mr. Picard has been a speaker at numerous customer and industry association meetings and conferences in both the environmental and construction markets. Mr. Picard holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Rhode Island, graduated from Harvard Business School's Owner/President Management Program in 2002, and also is currently enrolled an MBA program at Northeastern University with completion anticipated in 2015. Erin K. Poppler Erin K. Poppler is a civil litigation attorney at Bassi Edlin Huie & Blum LLP. Erin has a diverse practice focused on complex litigation, environmental law, and product liability. Erin's litigation practice is further informed by her work for federal and state court judges at both the trial and appellate level. She served as a judicial extern of Judge Carlos Bea of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and Justice Thomas Hollenhorst of the California Court of Appeal. Erin also worked in the Civil Law & Motion Department of the San Francisco Superior Court. Erin graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in rhetoric and political science. She received her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she was an editor of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. Visit behblaw.com or LinkedIn to learn more about Erin s professional accomplishments. Kieran J. Purcell Kieran J. Purcell, P.E., LEED AP is the Environmental Division Manager at Rimkus Consulting Group. During his professional career, his responsibilities have ranged from a field representative/technician to an expert consultant in environmental legal disputes. He has conducted environmental sampling investigations, delineated the extent of affected media, specified and designed remedial systems, and performed facility compliance permitting. Recent engagements include investigations arising from storage tank facility failures, commercial/industrial spills and upsets, drilling operations incidents, and the standard of care for environmental investigations. Mr. Purcell is also a LEED Accredited Professional.
Jason W. Ross Jason W. Ross is Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer of Allegheny Valley Bancorp, Inc. and Allegheny Valley Bank of Pittsburgh ( AVB ). Jason is experienced in Accounting, Financial Reporting, Treasury Management, Mergers and Acquisitions, Strategic Planning, Insurance Management, Risk Management, Facilities Management and various other financial and operational disciplines. Prior to joining AVB, Ross served as Vice President/Director of Audit and Compliance at another regional bank for six years, and prior to that was a Manager in the Audit and Business Advisory Practice of Arthur Andersen, LLP. Jason graduated from West Virginia University with a bachelor in Accounting, and he is a Certified Public Accountant. Additionally, Jason has a long list of charitable and civic involvement including past chairman of the American Cancer Society, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and other Pittsburgh-based hospital and community organizations. Jason has received several Pittsburgh area awards, including CFO of the Year finalist, Pittsburgh s 40 Under 40, and Fast Tracker Award. Additionally, Jason is being honored in June 2014 as a Father of the Year by the American Diabetes Association. George A. Rusk George A. Rusk, J.D. is a Vice President of Ecology & Environment, Inc. (E&E) and has over 25 years experience in environmental law. He specializes in the review and analysis of federal and state environmental legislation and regulations; obtaining permits and evaluating environmental impacts for commercial projects; assessing and quantifying natural resource damages and developing restoration and compensatory mitigation programs; responding to enforcement actions resulting from the release of hazardous substances; negotiation of penalties, consent orders, environmental impact assessments and stream restoration and remedial programs; directing E&E s environmental forensics including litigation support on toxic tort cases; occupational safety and health; hazardous and solid waste management, generation, storage, transport, and disposal; development of allocation models to evaluate relative responsibilities of potentially responsible parties involved in cost recovery litigation. His wide range of responsibilities includes involvement in project work in the United States and overseas. Mr. Rusk received his law degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Yale University.
Carmen Santana Carmen Santana is a partner with Berkes Crane Robinson & Seal LLP. Ms. Santana's litigation practice includes defense of complex multi-party litigation in the fields of toxic torts, products liability, and construction defects. Her toxic tort practice specializes in State and Federal defense of asbestos cases, with particular emphasis on high risk cases involving mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other cancers. Her product liability practice includes defense of silica and mixed dust cases. Ms. Santana has a national complex multi-party insurance coverage litigation practice with an emphasis on asbestos, toxic torts and bad faith claims. She also defends contract, business dispute and personal injury claims. She has tried several cases to verdict, and has begun numerous trials resulting in dismissals or favorable resolutions for her clients. Ms. Santana has been recognized as a Rising Star by SuperLawyers Magazine and recognized by Pasadena Magazine as a Top Civil Litigator and Products Liability Lawyer for several years in a row. Ms. Santana speaks on a variety of topics at Continuing Legal Education seminars and conferences. Marc Scarcella Marc Scarcella, with Bates, White has more than 10 years of experience as an economic consultant for mass tort litigation, specializing in quantitative methods and their applications in dispute resolution and strategic litigation management. He has extensive experience estimating litigation risk and economic damages associated with latent personal injury claims due to environmental and product liability. Mr. Scarcella has developed forecasting models used to evaluate the impact of litigation and legacy liability on corporate financial management, transactions, and restructuring. His work has been leveraged in corporate financial disclosures for SEC reporting, bankruptcy reorganization, and structured financial transactions. Mr. Scarcella has acted as consulting expert on a number of complex insurance coverage cases and has developed economic models for estimating potential insurance recoveries due to environmental and product liability claims. He has applied his expertise in forecasting future loss and litigation risk to the areas of asbestos, silica, pharmaceutical, water contamination, and tobacco litigation. Mr. Scarcella first began evaluating environmental and product liability claims in 2001 as the statistician and quantitative data analyst for the claims processing facility of the Johns-Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust. Following his time with Manville, he joined ARPC, an economic consulting firm specializing in asbestos liability estimation for bankruptcy reorganization and qualified settlement funds. During his tenure with
ARPC, Mr. Scarcella had the opportunity to estimate current and future asbestos liability and associated insurance recoveries in asbestos bankruptcy proceedings for multiple companies including, but not limited to, Armstrong World Industries, Babcock and Wilcox, Federal-Mogul Corporation, Halliburton Co., Honeywell International Inc., Owens Corning, and United States Gypsum. Paul M. Schmidt Paul M. Schmidt co-chairs the Environmental Practice Group at Zarwin, Baum. Mr. Schmidt represents clients in environmental, energy and sustainable development matters throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the surrounding region. He has represented clients before numerous state and federal courts, the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Mr. Schmidt formerly was an Assistant Counsel with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and an Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Department of Law s Natural Resource and CERCLA Litigation Sections. He received his law degree and Certificate of Environmental Law from Pace University School of Law, after working for several years with environmental and industrial hygiene consulting firms. Mr. Schmidt is on the Board of the Eastern Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Transportation (formerly the Philadelphia Clean Cities Coalition). He is a frequent author and speaker on environmental issues, and has presented to other lawyers, industry representatives, academic groups, community groups and radio audiences. For further information on Mr. Schmidt, visit: http://www.zarwin.com/bios.php?action=view&id=32 Susan E. Smith Susan E. Smith is a trial attorney in the Baltimore office of Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney, Ltd. Ms. Smith defends product manufacturers and hospitality, retail and housing industry clients in toxic tort, products liability and premises liability litigation. Since 2011, Ms. Smith has defended clients involved in the ownership and management of senior living facilities, hotels, resorts, shopping centers, and apartment buildings who are facing Legionnaires disease claims nationwide. She has obtained favorable summary judgment rulings and rulings excluding the opinions of plaintiffs expert witnesses on source identification and other critical and emerging issues in
Legionnaires disease litigation. In addition to defending matters in suit, she counsels clients facing federal and state public health investigations involving suspected Legionnaires disease outbreaks and trains corporate general counsel and insurance and risk management professionals on risk avoidance, risk mitigation, and risk transfer opportunities. Lind Stapley Lind Stapley handles complex environmental and insurance coverage issues, including litigation involving ports, mining and smelting industries, sewage and stormwater, landfills, aircraft manufacturers, public utilities, pulp and paper mills, chemical distributors, construction defect, mold, and scrap metal processors. Other coverage work includes analyzing construction defect coverage issues, advertising injury, bodily injury, and product loss claims. He also has an appellate practice, and has advised small businesses on various contract issues. Lind is a member of the Soha & Lang PS firm. Mr. Stapley is a graduate of Brigham Young University, obtaining a B.S. in Business Management in 1985, magna cum laude, and a J.D. in 1988, cum laude. He edited the BYU Journal of Public Law, and taught classes in business managerial economics and torts. Mr. Stapley also clerked for the Honorable Moody R. Tidwell, III in the United States Court of Federal Claims 1988-89. He has since co-authored a section of the Washington State Bar Association State and Local Tax Deskbook, and been a CLE presenter on insurance issues. He is licensed to practice in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Todd Terhune Todd Terhune is a member of Wolff & Samson s Environmental and Real Estate, Development and Land Use Groups. Todd s practice encompasses a wide range of environmental issues in transactional, regulatory compliance and enforcement matters. Specifically, Todd focuses on environmental due diligence, ISRA compliance, water and wetlands, worker health and safety, environmental insurance, site remediation, environmental permitting, environmental cost recovery, and other environmental regulatory compliance issues that arise in connection with real estate and business transactions, or as a result of regulatory action. With more than two decades of practicing exclusively in the environmental field -- initially as a licensed Professional Engineer and currently as an attorney --Todd brings a practical, business-oriented
approach to solving environmental problems faced by industry and commercial and industrial real estate developers and owners. William L. Walsh William L. Walsh, Principal, Ardent Investigative Services, LLC: Mr. Walsh received his training in criminal and civil investigations at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, GA. He served as an enforcement officer and investigator with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Mr. Walsh graduated Summa Cum Laude with distinction in his Criminal Justice major from Temple University. For more than 30 years, he has conducted and managed hundreds of criminal and civil investigations for the federal government, private industry, corporations, attorneys and individuals. Mr. Walsh has vast experience in civil and criminal investigations in the environmental arena. These include potentially responsible party searches, cost recovery, waste forensics and allocation development. Charles A. Weaver III Charles A. Weaver III has been at Baylor University since 1989, where he is currently a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Director of Undergraduate Studies. He has published dozens of scientific articles, two books, and delivered more than 75 professional and scientific presentations. He has published in the areas of memory and language, the relationship between confidence and memory, flashbulb memory ( where were you on 9/11? ), and eyewitness identification. He has served as a forensic expert in civil and criminal cases in more than 25 states, and has testified in both federal and state courts. He has served on the editorial boards of five journals, including the Journal of Educational Psychology, and served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition. He is also served on grant review panels for the U. S. Department of Education for more than decade, serving as chair of two different panels. He was recently named as a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, and was named Baylor Fellow in 2012.
Alborz Wozniak Alborz Wozniak is the CEO and co-founder of Veritas Environmental Consulting, Inc. Alborz has over 20 years of environmental consulting experience specializing in environmental engineering, hazardous waste site closure, and expert testimony. Alborz has been involved with the investigation and cleanup of hundreds of contaminated sites across the United States. Alborz is a licensed civil engineer in California and Washington.
SPEAKER INDEX Alleman, Tom... 1 Ammon, George... 1 Aylward, Michael F.... 2 Bayly, Lauren... 2 Bensen, Eric E.... 2 Bernier, Thomas P.... 3 Burrell, Ken... 3 Collins, Ann Marie... 4 D Angelo, Wm. Chip... 4 Diggin, Michael... 5 Edlin, Noel... 5 Finley, Brent L.... 5 Foggan, Laura... 5 Freed, Mark L.... 6 Galbraith, David A.... 7 Garchie, Peter... 7 Goodman, Laura L.... 7 Griffin, James D.... 8 Hagström, Earl... 8 Hall, Rose... 9 Henshaw, John... 9 Hinchey, Edward... 9 Johnson, Peter W.... 10 Kelso, Peter... 11 Kort, Jason... 11 Kunzman, Steve... 12 Lyda, T. H.... 12 Margolies, Brian... 12 Marsden, Michael... 13 Misiura, Bryna Rosen... 13 Morris, John... 13 Morrison, Christopher P.... 14 Myers, Rebecca... 14 Naughton, Michael J.... 15 Picard, Jeffrey E.... 15 Poppler, Erin K.... 16 Purcell, Kieran J.... 16 Ross, Jason W.... 17 Rusk, George A.... 17 Santana, Carmen... 18 Scarcella, Marc... 18 Schmidt, Paul M.... 19 Smith, Susan E.... 19 Stapley, Lind... 20 Terhune, Todd... 20 Walsh, William L.... 21 Weaver III, Charles A.... 21 Wozniak, Alborz... 22