DRI Faculty List

Fidelity and Surety Roundtable

Gleacher Center, University of Chicago | Chicago, IL | May 19, 2017


Michael D. Beranek
Berkley Crime

Michael D. Beranek is a focused, Fidelity & Crime underwriter at W.R. Berkley's, Berkley Crime. He leads the Commercial Crime Product and the Midwest Team within Berkley Crime, where he just celebrated his 6th anniversary. Lending his 25 years of experience to the Surety & Fidelity Association of America and the Insurance Services Office by sitting on a handful of committees are just some of the ways he gives back to the industry. As a frequent speaker on Fidelity & Crime related topics, and keeper of Berkley Crime's Fidelity Reference Library, Mike's passion for his underwriting craft comes through. He's participated in numerous Fidelity & Surety Law Committee, Fidelity Law Association, Risk & Insurance Management Society, Professional Liability Underwriting Society events and presentations over the years in an effort to inform and educate on an often misunderstood product.


Carla C. Crapster
Strasburger & Price LLP

Carla C. Crapster focuses her practice on litigating fidelity bond cases, surety matters and other insurance coverage disputes. Carla has experience in federal courts throughout the country, including the Fifth Circuit, Sixth Circuit, and Eleventh Circuits.


Lawrence L. Flynn
Gottesman Wolgel Flynn Weinberg & Lee PC

Lawrence L. Flynn has been practicing in the surety, fidelity and coverage dispute fields since 1980. Mr. Flynn is a member of DRI, the Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association, the Surety Claims Institute, the Philadelphia Surety Association, and the Defense Association of New York. He resolves payment and performance bond claims, appeal, attachment, fiduciary, utility, bail, U.S. Customs and open penalty bond claims and appeals in Federal and New York State Courts. Mr. Flynn also handles certain estate and guardianship matters. Mr. Flynn's appointments include counsel for guardian, guardian, executor and administrator. Mr. Flynn has been a contributor to the DRI For the Defense magazine.


David D. Gilliss
Managing Partner
Pike & Gilliss LLC

David D. Gilliss is a founding member of the law firm of Pike & Gilliss, LLC located in Towson, Maryland. His practice focuses on surety, construction, and fidelity related claims on behalf of sureties, contractors, and fidelity carriers. His practice also includes litigation of general commercial and regulatory claims and administrative actions. Mr. Gilliss co-authored "Surety Bonds and Insurance in the Construction Industry", "Arbitration of Construction in Commercial Cases" and "Maryland Construction Law: What Do You Do When" and has written numerous articles and papers on surety, fidelity and construction-related issues.


Jeffrey Goldberg
Vice President
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions

Jeffrey Goldberg is currently Vice President and Head of North America Credit and Surety Claims for Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. Mr. Goldberg has been with Swiss Re since 2000. Prior to that time, Mr. Goldberg practiced law from 1992-1996 in the Chicago area concentrating primarily on the representation of sureties. Thereafter, he joined Washington International Insurance Company and North American Specialty as in house counsel handling performance and payment bond defaults. Mr. Goldberg is a member of the Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association as well as the Illinois bar association. He is currently located in Swiss Re's Schaumburg, IL office. Mr. Goldberg is the Vice Program Char for the 2017 Fidelity and Surety Roundtable.


James P. Green
Wright Green PC

James P. Green is a 1979 graduate of the University of Miami School of Law. He received his Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of South Alabama in 1975. Mr. Green practices in Alabama and Florida. He is a member of the Mobile Bar Association, the Alabama State Bar, the Florida State Bar, and the American Bar Association, where he is active in the Fidelity/Surety, Construction Law, and Alternative Dispute Resolution sections. He is a member of DRI, and is current the Chair of the Fidelity and Surety SLC. Jim's maternal grandparents were from Spain, although his mother was born in Guatemala. He attended grade school in Guatemala, where he gained his fluency in Spanish.


Bruce W. Kahn
Berkley Surety Group

Bruce W. Kahn is a commercial attorney whose practice focuses on the construction, surety, and real estate industries. He presently heads the claims department as a vice president at Berkley Surety Group, a W.R. Berkley Company. He is a graduate of Albany Law School and he also holds a master of business administration degree from Cornell University's S.C. Johnson School of Business.


Ralph J. Kooy
Partner
Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

Ralph J. Kooy is a partner with the Chicago office of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP where his practice is focused in the areas of surety, fidelity and construction law representing sureties, fidelity carriers and contractors. Mr. Kooy has authored "The Surety's Enforcement of its Rights of Reimbursement", Everything You Need to Know About the Size, Scope and Nature of a Public Private Partnership", "Associated Risks of Principal Financing" and "The Law of Commercial Surety and Miscellaneous Bonds—Public Official Bonds". Mr. Kooy has written numerous articles and papers on surety, fidelity and construction issues. Mr. Kooy is a 1992 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law.


Ronald G. Mund
SDC CPAs LLC

Ronald G. Mund is General Counsel of SDC CPAs, LLC. SDC CPAs, LLC is an investigative accounting firm, specialized in analyzing and handling fidelity (including employee dishonesty and employee theft), lack of faithful performance and crime claims for the insurance adjusting and insurance defense industry. SDC provides national and international investigation and forensic accounting services.


Melissa M. Rice
Chubb Insurance

Melissa M. Rice joined the Surety Claims group in March 2012 from the forensic accounting firm of Nihill & Riedley PC (now Marcum LLP). The Philadelphia-based firm specializes in surety claims investigations, reviewing contractor's books and records, and funds control. As a member of the Chubb Surety claims team, she is responsible for managing and adjusting commercial and contract surety claim files, including adjustment of payment bond claims, investigation into performance bond defaults, license and permit bonds, self-insured workers compensation bonds, bankruptcies, and various court bonds, such as appeal bonds and release of lien bonds.


Ira E. Sussman
RLI Insurance Company

Ira E. Sussman is Vice President for Surety and Design Professional claims with RLI Insurance. Ira has been with RLI Insurance since June 2007. Among other things, Ira provides product support to the various products that RLI markets to the construction industry. Ira has a diverse background well-suited to his role. Ira practiced law from 1984-1998 in the Chicago area representing general contractors, owners and design professionals. In addition, Ira represented insurance carriers on coverage issues. In 2000, Ira joined Safeco Surety and handled primarily construction performance and payment issues as claims counsel until 2006. Most recently, before coming to RILI, Ira was with a Chicago law firm working on miscellaneous professional liability claims and coverage issued on behalf of Lloyds of London. Ira located in RLI's Chicago office.


Steven L. Weinberg
Gottesman Wolgel Flynn Weinberg & Lee PC

Steven L. Weinberg formerly an Assistant District Attorney in Queens County with trial and appellate experience, has been concentrating in surety, fidelity and receivership practice areas. Mr. Weinberg is a member of DRI, the Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association, the Surety Claims Institute, of the International Association of Defense Counsel and of the New York State Bar Association. Mr. Weinberg's practice includes litigation on contract, miscellaneous commercial bonds. Mr. Weinberg is a contributor to the DRI for the Defense magazine, Surety Claims Institute Newsletter and the IADC Fidelity and Surety Newsletter. Mr. Weinberg's appointments include as a receiver and Mr. Weinberg is a member of the National Association of Federal Equity Receivers. Mr. Weinberg is the Program Chair for the 2017 Fidelity and Surety Roundtable.


Keith Witten
Gilliland & Hayes LLC

Keith Witten is a shareholder with Gilliland & Hayes, LLC. He practices in state and federal courts with an emphasis on fidelity and surety bond claims, directors' and officers' liability claims, and construction litigation, as well as other business litigation and insurance defense. He served as a vice chair of the ABA-TIPS Fidelity and Surety Law committee from 1997-2001, president of the Surety Claims Institute from 2006-2010 and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Surety Claims Institute since 2010. He is the author of numerous papers on a variety of fidelity and surety topics.


Douglass F. Wynne, Jr.
Partner
Simon Peragine Smith & Redfearn

Douglass F. Wynne, Jr. is a partner of Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn, LLP where his practice centers on commercial litigation with a focus on construction and surety law, where he has represented owners, contractors, and sureties. Doug has served as the young lawyer liaison for the Fidelity and Surety Committee of the DRI from 2012 to present and is a member of the Fidelity & Surety Law Committee (FSLC) of the Torts & Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association. He graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and he received his Juris Doctor degree in 2008 from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.Douglass is the current Committee Vice Chair for the Fidelity and Surety Committee