TIPS, Your Business Generation and Professional Development Home

• Pages: 4-5
• Date: 01 July 2024
• Author: Chris Nolan

4THE BRIEF❭ Summer 2024

View from the Chair

On behalf of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice

Section (TIPS), its ocers, Council, committee chairs

and vice-chairs, sponsors, and dedicated sta, welcome

to the 2024–2025 American Bar Association (ABA) year.

Congratulations to Loren Podwill, our outgoing Chair, for

taking your theme of TIPS, the Next Generation, and putting

it into practice with a zeal and charm that is uniquely Loren

Podwill. Loren reminded us with every appointment he made,

every event he attended, and every initiative undertaken that

the health of our Section is in providing opportunities for

lawyers to reach new heights with leadership responsibilities in

professional organizations like TIPS.Thank you, Loren.

This Section can only enrich the lives of its members

with the unagging dedication and eorts of our TIPS sta,

led by Director Theresa Livingston and Associate Director

Programming Janet Hummons.We ask our sta to lead more

stand-alone conferences than any other ABA section. Let that

sink in: our scholarship, friendship, and comradery that results

in an incredible programming calendar (see below for the full

schedule) leads every ABA section, by far. That is why you,

our valued members, may not receive a response email or call

the same day it is sent.We expect so much from our TIPS

sta, and they give so much to us. And the demands are not

decreasing because we are racing out of the barn that is the

new ABA year with fresh programming for our members.

The rst program held this ABA year featured our newest

Task Force on Referrals and Business Generation (RBG), led

by TIPS members Michael Vercher (Chair) and Megan Coluc-

cio (Chair-Elect). Why do we need RBG? Because our TIPS

members have been loud and clear about what is important

to them when budgeting for the year or discussing their TIPS

experience with law rms: Help me explain the business

proposition.With the most in-house insurance professionals in

any section—not surprising as we are the insurance section—we

give our members an unrivaled opportunity to meet and

build relationships with in-house professionals.To kick o this

initiative, we held a Zoom on August 14, 2024, featuring two

of our TIPS members who are part of the Corporate Counsel

and In-House Professionals Committee: Stephanie Penninger,

Associate General Counsel, Supply Chain, at Wayfair; and

Casey O’Brien, Corporate Counsel, Global Mile, at Amazon.

Stephanie and Casey led a discussion about selecting small,

midsize, and large rms for particular matters; the types of

issues they handle; what stands out in preferred or panel coun-

sel; and the role TIPS plays in their business. A recording of

the 30-minute chat can be found on our TIPS YouTube page

(https://www.youtube.com/AmericanBarTIPS). Stay tuned

for more RBG programming throughout the year for our

members in person and virtually.

As there is a good deal of quality content to read in The

Brief, I want to highlight only a few of our experiences ahead.

The best way to experience all that TIPS has to oer for your

client and professional development is to join us at our Fall

Meeting at the Royal Sonesta Resort, Kauai, October 16–19,

2024, and the spring Section Conference at the Capitol Hil-

ton, Washington, D.C., May 7–10, 2025.

At the Fall Meeting, TIPS will host the Inaugural Insurance

Summit for In-House Counsel and Professionals. Because

the focus of our meeting is on in-house insurance counsel

and professionals, there is no registration fee for company

representatives.

The summit will be three hours on Thursday and two

hours on Friday. On Thursday, we will have a joint session

with all insurance in-house counsel and professionals, and

speakers will address the three issues that are garnering a good

deal of attention: (1) social ination/nuclear verdicts, (2) the

use of AI by insurance companies and their law rms, and (3)

cybersecurity issues. On Friday, we will break into subgroups

on claims, coverage, and public policy considerations.Akira

Heshiki of The Standard Insurance Company will be leading

the subgroup on claims, Floyd Holloway of State Farm will be

leading the subgroup on public policy, and Christine Davis of

AmeriTrust will be leading the subgroup on coverage.

For in-house counsel, we will be laying the foundation

for promoting TIPS in the insurance industry, as well as

within the ABA.This is not a one-year undertaking; we have

a commitment from the next two TIPS Chairs—Chair-Elect

Marcy Greer and Vice-Chair Meade Mitchell—to continue

the summit during their Fall Meetings in San Diego (October

2025) and Hilton Head (October 2026). So, you will be

pleased to know that the fruits of our labors will be worked

on throughout the ABA year, leading to the next summit.

In the next issue of The Brief, the “View from the Chair”

will focus on the programming for the year ahead. But I will

give you one preview: The TIPS Section Conference, May

7–10, 2025, will be celebrating its 10th anniversary (2015–

2025) in Washington, D.C., where we will thank TIPS Chairs

from the past 10 years and the Co-Chairs they entrusted with

the Section Conferences. Our very special guest will be the

Honorable Michelle Childs, United States Circuit Judge of the

TIPS, Your Business Generation and

Professional Development Home

By Chris Nolan

PUBLISHED IN THE BRIEF, VOLUME 53, NUMBER 4, SUMMER 2024. © 2024 BY THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION. REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS INFORMATION OR ANY PORTION THEREOF MAY

NOT BE COPIED OR DISSEMINATED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS OR STORED IN AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE OR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION.

PUBLISHED IN THE BRIEF, VOLUME 53, NUMBER 4, SUMMER 2024. © 2024 BY THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION. REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS INFORMATION OR ANY PORTION THEREOF MAY

NOT BE COPIED OR DISSEMINATED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS OR STORED IN AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE OR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION.