Insights
Wilson Elser has achieved Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification Plus, which confirms achievement of 30 percent representation of underrepresented lawyers in many of the program’s designated categories.
“This is our first year participating in certification, and achieving the Plus Certification is a huge accomplishment,” said Wilson Elser Diversity & Inclusion Committee Chair Angela Russell. “It demonstrates the firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion across all leadership levels, and is consistent with the firm’s strategic goal to increase representation and opportunities for those from diverse backgrounds and women lawyers.” Carolyn O’Connor, Wilson Elser’s Chair of Women Attorneys Valued & Empowered (WAVE) added, “Mansfield Certification Plus is a well-deserved recognition of the ways Wilson Elser supports its women attorneys through the WAVE initiative. I couldn’t be prouder of this moment in the firm’s history and look forward to celebrating our continued support for its women attorneys through Mansfield certifications in the future.”
Mansfield Certification is the standard by which law firms measure their progress toward recruiting and retaining women lawyers, lawyers from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, lawyers with disabilities and LGBTQ+ lawyers. Sixty large law firms, including 49 firms seeking first-time certification, in the United States and Canada, participated in the Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification process for 2022, which launched in July 2021. The one-year certification process is administered by Diversity Lab.
Declaring that the firm has committed to participate in Mansfield Rule 6.0 Certification, Wilson Elser Chair Dan McMahon reflects the feelings of the entire firm: “Diversity & Inclusion is a firm foundational value that is critical to our success. Achieving this certification confirms Wilson Elser’s ongoing efforts to mirror the diversity of our clients and of the communities in which we practice.”
New for Mansfield 5.0, firms were required to:
- Track their candidate pools in a disaggregated manner, prompting them to measure the impact of the Mansfield Rule according to each underrepresented group.
- Consider 30 percent underrepresented individuals when hiring and promoting for C-level or other senior-level professional staff roles.
Wilson Elser has achieved Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification Plus, which confirms achievement of 30 percent representation of underrepresented lawyers in many of the program’s designated categories.
“This is our first year participating in certification, and achieving the Plus Certification is a huge accomplishment,” said Wilson Elser Diversity & Inclusion Committee Chair Angela Russell. “It demonstrates the firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion across all leadership levels, and is consistent with the firm’s strategic goal to increase representation and opportunities for those from diverse backgrounds and women lawyers.” Carolyn O’Connor, Wilson Elser’s Chair of Women Attorneys Valued & Empowered (WAVE) added, “Mansfield Certification Plus is a well-deserved recognition of the ways Wilson Elser supports its women attorneys through the WAVE initiative. I couldn’t be prouder of this moment in the firm’s history and look forward to celebrating our continued support for its women attorneys through Mansfield certifications in the future.”
Mansfield Certification is the standard by which law firms measure their progress toward recruiting and retaining women lawyers, lawyers from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, lawyers with disabilities and LGBTQ+ lawyers. Sixty large law firms, including 49 firms seeking first-time certification, in the United States and Canada, participated in the Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification process for 2022, which launched in July 2021. The one-year certification process is administered by Diversity Lab.
Declaring that the firm has committed to participate in Mansfield Rule 6.0 Certification, Wilson Elser Chair Dan McMahon reflects the feelings of the entire firm: “Diversity & Inclusion is a firm foundational value that is critical to our success. Achieving this certification confirms Wilson Elser’s ongoing efforts to mirror the diversity of our clients and of the communities in which we practice.”
New for Mansfield 5.0, firms were required to:
- Track their candidate pools in a disaggregated manner, prompting them to measure the impact of the Mansfield Rule according to each underrepresented group.
- Consider 30 percent underrepresented individuals when hiring and promoting for C-level or other senior-level professional staff roles.
Lateral Hire Brings Significant London Market Experience
Wilson Elser has announced that Graham Pulvere has joined the firm as a partner in its Birmingham, Alabama, office.
Pulvere concentrates his practice on litigating insurance coverage and bad faith actions in addition to a variety of professional liability matters. He was previously a partner at Lloyd Gray Whitehead Monroe in Birmingham, where he practiced in the Insurance Coverage and Professional Liability groups, handling matters in the U.S. and London insurance markets.
At Wilson Elser, Pulvere will be a member of the Insurance & Reinsurance Coverage and the Professional Liability & Services practices, as well as the London Practice.
“Graham has significant experience working with the London market on first-party and bad faith matters and will add to our strong ability to handle complex coverage and bad faith matters not only in Alabama but also in Mississippi and Louisiana,” said London Practice Chair David Holmes.
“As the nation’s preeminent defense litigation law firm, our sweet spot is insurance,” said David Hall, Regional Managing Partner of the Birmingham office. “Graham adds to our deep bench in that area, and we extend him an enthusiastic welcome to Wilson Elser.”
Focused in the area of first-party and third-party insurance coverage matters, Pulvere handles various first-party matters including claims involving catastrophes, suspected burning, fraud, theft losses, and commercial property and business interruption losses. Additionally, he handles first- and third-party bad faith matters including excess policy claims.
Pulvere has represented clients in a range of areas such as legal malpractice actions, bar disciplinary proceedings, and errors and omissions actions against insurance agents and brokers. He handles litigation, arbitration and mediation in a number of states.
Pulvere received a J.D. degree from Samford University Cumberland School of Law in 2003, and a B.S. degree from Utah State University in 1998.
Today, W+K welcomes two new Health partners: Marie-Clare Elder and Claudine Watson-Kyme. The combination of our new Sydney-based partners and Partner Chris Spain in Melbourne creates a formidable, fresh Health team.
Both Marie-Clare and Claudine come from senior in-house roles, have medical backgrounds and are widely respected for the advice and support they provide to medical and allied health professionals.
Marie-Clare Elder specialises in health, medical negligence and personal injury litigation. She has practised in Australia and the United Kingdom in senior in-house roles and is a former clinical nurse specialist in intensive care. Most recently, Marie-Clare was the Senior Legal Counsel – Manager Legal Services at MIGA, where she was responsible leading the eastern seaboard team and for general legal advice and litigated claims, coronial inquests, disciplinary and employment matters.
Claudine Watson-Kyme is a health law specialist with extensive experience in litigation and dispute resolution. During her career, Claudine has represented and advised NSW health agencies, medical indemnity insurers, hospitals, medical practitioners and allied health providers. Her experience spans liability claims, coronial inquests, disciplinary and administrative law matters. She is a former nurse and, most recently, was the Manager of Cases and Advisory Services at MDA National.
With their in-house experience, Chris, Marie-Claire and Claudine are reinventing the traditional healthcare offering and creating something genuinely different for the market in terms of price, service and an empathetic and practical approach to claims management. Our offering will be tailored to meet the diverse needs of the health sector, including medical negligence claims, disciplinary matters, coronial inquiries, advisory services and employment law support.
Legalign Global alliance member, Wotton + Kearney, has opened a new office in Adelaide, Australia. This move continues the firm’s growth trajectory and expanding its footprint into seven cities across Australia and New Zealand – and further expands our global coverage.
David Kearney, Wotton + Kearney’s Chief Executive Partner, said: “Our expansion into Adelaide will meet our increasing local client demand. It’s also a great example of our People First strategy in practice. Throughout the pandemic, we had lawyers who understandably wanted to work from home in their home town. That worked so well that we have now opened an office for the team.”
The firm’s move into Adelaide is the latest chapter in its growth story. It follows recent senior appointments across its Property, Energy & Construction, Financial Lines and General Liability practices and in the specialty lines of Cyber, Marine & Transport and Health, as well as the arrival of the former DLA insurance team in New Zealand.
Wotton + Kearney now has more than 330 dedicated insurance lawyers, including 58 partners, across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Wellington and Auckland. To meet insurer’s needs, the firm also has an active presence in the London and Singapore markets and continues to actively recruit.
Legalign Global alliance member Wotton + Kearney has entered a partnership with investment firm Straight Bat. This move will assist the firm to accelerate its ambitious client solutions and growth objectives.
Under the deal, Straight Bat is taking a minority stake in Wotton + Kearney, providing insight and governance with two non-executive board appointments and injecting equity and corporate expertise into our business.
The partnership allows Wotton + Kearney to make a significant investment in accelerating the delivery of its strategy, which involves attracting the best talent in key insurance lines, capturing new market opportunities and investing in legal tech to benefit its clients.
It reinforces the firm’s ongoing commitment to deliver expertise across a greater number of insurance products from more places across the region. Recently, this commitment has seen Wotton + Kearney expand its teams in core areas like major loss property, energy and infrastructure, as well as in speciality lines, such as health, cyber and marine. The firm has also recently opened its seventh office in Adelaide.
Wotton + Kearney’s strategy also responds to the growing need to increase our investment in legal technology and data-driven client solutions. This is critical as many insurers are looking to leverage data to assist with risk selection, risk mitigation and appropriate pricing.
Straight Bat is a private equity fund that invests for the long-term in mature, robust, profitable, medium-sized Australian businesses and assists its business partners to deliver their strategic plans. For their part, the Straight Bat team were impressed by Wotton + Kearney’s standing in the insurance market and are excited about bringing their broader business skills to the firm’s evolving growth story.
As part of the partnership arrangements, Wotton + Kearney has appointed two new non-executive directors, Rob Nicholls and Steve Gledden. Steve Gledden is a former McKinsey & Co consultant who has 25+ years’ experience in professional services, private equity and venture capital in Australia and the United States. Rob Nicholls has diverse strategy, governance and business growth experience, including five years as a CEO growing the national footprint of an industrial services business and 20+ years at Westpac and in M+As.
Existing Business and Opportunities Drive Expansion in Thriving Markets
New York, NY ‒ (June 1, 2021) – National law firm Wilson Elser announced today that it has expanded further in the Southeast, opening new offices in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
“Wilson Elser is pleased to be able to expand into the Tar Heel state where the firm has existing client needs,” said firm Chair Daniel J. McMahon. “This is part of our overall regional strategy, and we look forward to adding capabilities in these offices as our client base grows in North Carolina.”
The North Carolina offices will handle insurance and reinsurance coverage and defense, commercial litigation, aviation law and financial services, among others. The firm’s national Aviation Practice co-chair, Kathryn Grace, will serve as supervising attorney of the Charlotte office, and of counsel Erik Tomberg will take the helm in Raleigh.
“North Carolina’s key industries include banking, transportation, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, health care and information technology,” said Wilson Elser Managing Partner R. Douglas Noah. “We represent leading businesses in these industries and provide a range of legal services from aviation litigation, to products liability and regulatory matters, to life sciences, transportation and cybersecurity, so this move plays well to several of our strengths.”
“People are relocating to the Carolinas,” he added. “Wilson Elser belongs in North Carolina.”
In addition to Ms. Grace and Mr. Tomberg, two senior associates are joining the North Carolina offices. They are David Williams, who will work in Raleigh, and Jamie Winokur, who will work in Charlotte.
This most recent expansion gives the firm 41 offices in the United States and solidifies the coverage Wilson Elser provides in the Southeast. The Charlotte and Raleigh offices join 14 established full-service offices in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. For decades, Wilson Elser has maintained a strong presence in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
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About Wilson Elser
Wilson Elser helps individuals and organizations transcend challenges and realize goals by offering an optimal balance of legal excellence and bottom-line value. More than 800 attorneys strong, Wilson Elser serves clients of all sizes, across multiple industries and around the world. Wilson Elser has a national network of strategically located offices in the United States and another in London. It is a founding member of Legalign Global, a close alliance of some of the world’s leading insurance law firms created to assist companies doing business internationally. This depth and scale make Wilson Elser one of the nation’s most influential law firms, ranked 105 in the AmLaw 200 and 57th in The National Law Journal’s NLJ 500. For more information, go to www.wilsonelser.com.
Four insurance leaders in Australia have joined the inaugural CEO Skydive, an initiative that aims to raise funds for mental health research and programs that reduce the incidence of mental illness and suicide.
Organised by not-for-profit Black Dog Institute (BDI), the event saw 15 bosses skydive with Experience Co on April 30 in Wollongong for the benefit of mental health research – with the total funds reaching an impressive $200,000.
James Baum (Aon), Damien Coates (DUAL), Stefan Feldmann (HDI Global), and David Kearney (Wotton + Kearney) were part of the group of CEOs who skydived – with their jumps recorded or live streamed so that loved ones, co-workers, and friends could watch from home.
Kearney commented that the experience took him and the other bosses out of their comfort zone, adding: “It was worth it because it gave us the platform to raise awareness about mental health issues and raise funds for the Black Dog Institute.”
Coates, a BDI mental health ambassador, added: “This was an exhilarating experience for all of us. I’m so proud that of the 15 CEOs who skydived, four were from the insurance industry. It shows just how important we consider the issues of mental health.”
BDI is a clinical organisation that focuses on diagnosing, preventing, and treating mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar.
Despite swearing that he would never skydive, Baum still joined other leaders in the mental health initiative. He summed up the experience, saying: “It’s hard to choose another word other than ‘exhilarating’. I wasn’t quite sure when we got in that plane but once we edged out of that door it was amazing. I really want to thank everyone for supporting the Black Dog Institute to do what they do.”
Speaking about Aon’s relationship with BDI, Baum told Insurance Business: “We provide funding to the Black Dog Institute on an ongoing and annual basis as they’re our charitable partner. So, this event is in addition to what we would normally do with them.
“Also, the Black Dog Institute is a little bit different from other mental health organisations as they’re a clinical organisation and they do clinical studies. So, we do a lot of focus groups with them as well, which is really helpful for them. They come in and talk to our colleagues about their experiences, and we’re more than happy to provide time for BDI.”
Feldmann added: “It was unreal to be jumping out of a plane and falling through the clouds, which makes you realise just how fast you fall. I also want to thank everyone for their words of encouragement and support.”
The book, edited by Dr. Theo Langheid, former named partner of BLD Bach Langheid Dallmayr, addresses the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, focussing on aspects of insurance and liability law. Besides editor Dr. Theo Langheid, a total of 14 BLD insurance experts analyse different areas from infection protection to law of obligations to the individual insurance sectors.
Dr. Alexander Beyer | Health Insurance
Dr. Jendrik Böhmer, LL.M. | Process and Backgrounds, Infection Protection Law, Liability Insurance
Christina Eckes | Travel Insurance
Dr. Joachim Grote | Law of Obligations, Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Reinsurance, Insurance Supervision Law and Insurance Company Law
Prof. Dr. Dirk-Carsten Günther | Insurance against Business Interruption
Carsten Hösker, LL.M. | Infection Protection Law, Liability Insurance
Jan Kordes, LL.M. | D&O-Insurance
Dr. Theo Langheid | Laws on General Terms and Conditions
Dr. Tobias Mergner | Aspects of Personal Injury
Dr. Martin Schaaf | Law of Obligations, Life Insurance, Insurance Supervision Law and Insurance Company Law
Björn Seitz | Contingency Insurance
Dr. Thorsten Süß | Health
Dr. Sven-Markus Thiel | Contingency Insurance
Cornelius Maria Thora | Health
Fabian Triesch | Reinsurance
For further information on the new publication, please click here >>
DAC Beachcroft has been appointed to Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich)’s new claims legal panel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, further strengthening its global relationship with this key Insurance client.
The new appointment sees DAC Beachcroft’s Global Insurance team take responsibility for managing Zurich’s large and complex commercial claims, in seven European countries as well as the Middle East region.
DAC Beachcroft’s teams in France and Spain, led by Vladimir d’Ancezune in Paris and Jose Maria Álvarez-Cienfuegos in Madrid, will handle Zurich’s claims in those countries, while instructions in other European and Middle East jurisdictions will be managed by a wider network of locally-based law firms under the direction of DACB’s global insurance partner Patrick Hill and international development director, Gustavo Blanco.
Commenting on the new appointment, James Morris, Chairman of Claims Solutions Group and Client Relationship Partner for Zurich, explained: “This is very significant for our Global Insurance practice and supports our commitment to work with Zurich and their key customers across all jurisdictions. We have worked closely with Zurich over many years supporting their customer proposition. The new Panel will enable these complex and often commercially sensitive claims to be managed across multiple jurisdictions in a strategic way. This has always been a core focus for DAC Beachcroft and Zurich”.
Zurich Group Chief Claims Officer Ian Thompson said: “I am very pleased to be able to extend our long-standing relationship with DAC Beachcroft through this new panel. Zurich and our customers will benefit from a more consolidated level of legal insight, allowing us to improve our trend analysis and the proactivity of our decision-making. Importantly, the panel supports the evolution of our claims commitment in providing our international customers with a more consistent experience, particularly where coverage span multiple jurisdictions.”
Helen Faulkner, Head of Insurance, said, “Zurich is one of our closest and largest clients, and this latest appointment is testament to the work that a very large team within the Insurance practice has done over a number of years to build that relationship. The expansion of our European capabilities in France and Madrid has given us a real advantage in these jurisdictions.”
Legalign Global is pleased to announce the addition of Alexander Holburn, one of Canada’s leading insurance law firms and a member of The ARC Group Canada, to its alliance of best-in-region law firms.
The addition of Alexander Holburn in Canada means clients will now have access to legal advice across North America, particularly in the areas of Cyber, Aviation, Cannabis, Product Liability and Transportation insurance, where the firm has significant experience and reputation.
“We are very pleased to welcome Alexander Holburn to the alliance,” said Wilson Elser Firm Chair, Dan McMahon. “Given our proximity to Canada, we expect there will be many opportunities to work together to support our clients with cross-border claims and risk.”
David Pollitt, DAC Beachcroft Managing Partner, believes the addition will be welcome news for their clients with business in Canada.
“DAC Beachcroft is excited to welcome AHBL into the Legalign Alliance,” said Pollitt. “This addition ensures we can provide the best regional advice and support to our insurer, broker and corporate clients in Canada.”
The alliance provides broad business implications for Alexander Holburn as well.
“Our clients will now be able to access a truly global practice,” said Chris Hirst, Managing Partner. “This collaboration will position our clients to better assess risk and make informed decisions with confidence.”
Legalign Global firms aim to work as one for multinational insurers, brokers and businesses in addressing cross-border risks and claims. Collectively, members offer in-depth expertise in all major regions.
The alliance includes BLD Bach Langheid Dallmayr, DAC Beachcroft, Wilson Elser and Wotton + Kearney, and now, Alexander Holburn.
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