Claims People: SCA, Verisk, Hiscox, Gordon & Rees, Tyson & Mendes

SCA Appoints Adjusting VP

SCA Claim Services, an independent specialty and property claims appraising and adjusting provider, has appointed Lee Baker as vice president of adjusting.

Baker has extensive field and leadership experience when it comes to auto, property, commercial, and heavy equipment claims, and has overseen vendor management and operations at the national level, SCA said in a press release. He has built or overhauled nationwide catastrophe, appraisal, and auto liability programs.

Baker previously was a senior claims manager for Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., according to his LinkedIn profile. He started with the carrier in 2015 as a regional appraisal manager. Before then, he was a claims team manager for Safeco Insurance.

Baker has a bachelor’s of science degree from Tarleton State University in Texas.

Verisk Promotes 2 Claims Professionals

Verisk has promoted Carrie Barr to president of casualty solutions and Aaron Brunko to president of property estimating solutions. Both businesses are part of Verisk’s Claims Solutions group.

Barr joined Verisk as an account executive in 2010 and quickly advanced to leadership positions within sales and operations, the company said in a press release. In her new role, Barr will focus on driving greater efficiencies for clients through workflow automation, programmatic compliance and decision-support solutions, Verisk said.

Before joining Verisk in 2010, Barr was a senior account sales manager for Coventry Health Care. She had a bachelor’s of science in business administration from Duquesne University and completed a leadership development program at Harvard Business School.Brunko joined Verisk as a tech support agent in 2001 and served most recently as senior vice president of claims on the property estimating solutions team. He will focus on driving innovation for the property estimating and restoration sectors, and work on expanding and deepening ecosystem partnerships to enhance customer workflows, the company said.

Brunko has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Utah and a Bachelor’s of Science Degree from Western Governors University in Salt Lake City.

Hiscox Hires Group Claims Director

Hiscox, a global specialty insurer headquartered in London, has appointed Steve Parry as group claims director, effective July 1, subject to regulatory approvals.

Parry will be based in London and report to Stéphane Flaquet, group chief operations and technology officer.

Parry currently is global head of technical claims for American InternationalGroup, where he is responsible for technical claims across all of AIG’s commercial and personal lines. Prior to AIG he spent 14 years at Ace/Chubb.

“As our business continues to grow, so too does the need to strengthen our technical expertise to continue to provide brilliant service to our customers in our specialized fields,” Flaquet said in a press release. “Steve’s all-round experience across big ticket and retail in both personal and commercial lines will be instrumental in providing clear strategic direction to our award-winning claims function across the globe. I look forward to welcoming him to the team.”

Gordon & Rees Appoints 2 Partners

The Gordon & Rees law firm has appointed Cynthia Y. Patane as partner in its Health Care Practice Group in Phoenix and Melissa Gardner as partner with its insurance and commercial litigation group at its Phoenix and Chicago offices.

Patane focuses her practice in the areas of medical malpractice defense, insurance defense, health care law, and risk management, the law firm said in a press release. She has experience litigating medical malpractice cases of all varieties.

A substantial portion of her practice has been dedicated to defending ophthalmologists and other health care providers at most Arizona licensing boards, including the Arizona Medical Board, the Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners, and the Arizona Board of Optometry, the law firm said.

Patane previously was an attorney with the Broening Oberg Woods & Wilson law firm in Scottsdale, Arizona. She received a Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas.

Gardner has litigated cases involving medical fraud, auto accidents, premises liability, product liability, wrongful death, breach of contract, in-home healthcare, elder abuse, and medical and nurse malpractice claims. She had counseled clients on insurance matters and bad faith issues throughout her career.

Gardner received her law degree from DePaul University College of Law and her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois. She is admitted to practice law in Illinois, Arizona, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Tyson & Mendes Hires Attorneys for New Jacksonville Office

Insurance defense firm Tyson & Mendes has appointed attorney E. Holland “Holly” Howanitz as managing partner for its new Jacksonville, Florida office and three other former partners of the Wicker Smith law firm in Jacksonville.

Previously, Howanitz was a partner at Wicker Smith. The law firm said in a press release that several associates and three former Wicker Smith partners will join her at the Jacksonville office: Catherine Crawley, Ashley Hollingsworth and Tara Floyd.

The Jacksonville office is Tyson & Mendes’ third Florida office. The law firm also has offices in Tampa and Fort Lauderdale.

In her 18 years of practice, Howanitz has represented corporations, insurance carriers, and others in numerous cases. She received a Juris Doctor from Florida Coastal School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree rom Oglethorpe University.

Crawleyfocuses her practice on matters involving civil litigation, premises liability, construction, transportation and trucking, and medical malpractice. She began her law career in 2016 after graduating from Georgia State University College of Law.

Floyd works on cases involving civil litigation, construction, insurance coverage and bad faith, medical malpractice, nursing home and assisted living, automobile litigation and premises liability. In 2017, Floyd served in the Public Defender’s Office for the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida.

Hollingsworth has experience in automobile negligence, premises liability, nursing home and assisted living facility matters. Before working at Wicker Smith, she was an associate attorney to a family law office representing clients in dissolution of marriage, child support, paternity, domestic violence injunction and dependency cases. Previously, she served as an assistant public defender in the 17th Judicial Circuit.