2012 Insurance Forum with GA Attorney General Sam Olens

About Our Guest & Presenters: 

Sam Olens was sworn in as Georgia Attorney General on January 10, 2011. Mr. Olens had previously served as Chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, Cobb County District 3 Commissioner and Chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission. He was also Vice-Chair of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District. Mr. Olens was appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue to represent the 6th Congressional District on Georgia’s Department of Community Affairs Board in 2003 and served through 2010.

Mr. Olens also serves on the boards of various non-profit organizations, including the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the 2008 Tom Bradley Leadership Award by the National Association of Regional Councils and the 2007 “Excellence in Public Service Award” by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute. For the past eight years, Georgia Trend magazine has listed Mr. Olens as one of the “100 Most Influential Georgians.”

Lewis E. Hassett is a Partner and Chair of the Firm's Litigation Practice, as well as Co-Chair of the Firm's Insurance and Reinsurance Practice. Mr. Hassett's practice concentrates in the area of complex civil litigation, including insurance and reinsurance matters, agency issues, business torts and insurer insolvencies. He has extensive experience in complex and multiple parallel actions, in pre-trial, trial and appellate advocacy and in arbitration actions. His insurer insolvency practice includes the representation of receivers, reinsurers, acquiring insurers and insurance commissioners in various insurer insolvency matters.

Joseph T. Holahan advises insurers and reinsurers on a variety of legal matters, including all aspects of regulatory compliance. His experience includes assisting insurers with company formation and licensing, including the formation of alternative risk transfer vehicles, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, assumption reinsurance, portfolio transfers and other transactions. He also advises clients on the negotiation of reinsurance agreements and development of policy forms.

James W. Maxson is a Partner in the firm's Insurance & Reinsurance Practice where his areas of expertise include insurance-linked securities, insurance regulatory issues, life settlements, mergers and acquisitions, private placements and general corporate matters. He is Co-Chair of the firm's Insurance-Linked Securities group and his practice focuses on all aspects of this area and insurance capital markets. In addition, Mr. Maxson has performed extensive work in the areas of licensing, regulatory compliance, fund structuring and portfolio acquisitions.

Robert "Skip" Myers is the Managing Partner of the Washington D.C. office and Co-Chair of the Insurance and Reinsurance Practice. His practice focuses on insurance regulation and corporate matters with an emphasis on captive insurance and alternative risk transfer. Mr. Myers has written, spoken and presented testimony before legislative bodies on various issues, including antitrust regulation, financial services reform, the utilization of interstate compacts, the Liability Risk Retention Act and the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. He was named in the Top 5 of Captive Review's 2012 Power 50, a global ranking of captive attorneys.  

Jessica F. Pardi is a Partner in the Firm's Insurance Practice where she concentrates in the areas of insurance litigation, reinsurance dispute resolution, complex coverage disputes, bad faith matters, managing general agency disputes and insurer insolvency. Ms. Pardi's insurer insolvency practice includes representation of receivers, reinsurers and acquiring insurers.

L. Chris Petersen is a Partner in the Firm's Insurance Practice. Mr. Petersen concentrates in legal and compliance services relating to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), privacy, state small-group and individual insurance reform regulation and the interaction between state and federal law. In addition, he advises clients on legal matters pertaining to minimum standards for supplemental and individual insurance products, association business, managed care, as well as other compliance issues. He also assists clients before state insurance departments and provides representation before the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Congress and federal agencies.

Tony Roehl focuses on insurance regulation and corporate matters involving entities within the insurance industry. His experience includes assisting insurance companies with mergers and acquisitions and corporate consolidations. He also advises such companies and alternative risk transfer vehicles with all aspects of company formation and licensing, Holding Company Act compliance and managing the approval of form and rate filings.  Mr. Roehl counsels clients regarding all aspects of regulatory compliance and also represents clients in the insurance-linked securities market.

J. Ben Vitale focuses on complex civil and commercial litigation in state and federal court. He regularly handles insurance and reinsurance, real estate and contractual and tort-based business disputes and defends class action, products liability, personal injury and lender liability claims.