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Thomas F. Segalla the Founding President of the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel

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Thomas F. Segalla the Founding President of the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel

November 8, 2012
Thomas F. Segalla

The American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel has been formed by leading lawyers in the United States and Canada to improve the quality of the practice of insurance law.

The College focuses on the creative, ethical, and efficient adjudication of disputes between policyholders and insurers over insurance coverage as well as extracontractual damages, which are a form of punitive damages awarded against an insurer in claims alleging bad faith or unfair claims-handling practices. Its members represent the interests of both insurers and policyholders.

The College’s mission includes educating all sectors involved in insurance disputes — including the judiciary, legal and insurance professionals, and businesses — on critical topics such as best practices in policy formation and claims handling, developing trends in insurance law, and bad faith. Another important component is the drive to increase civility and professionalism in the field, thereby improving relations between insurer and policyholder counsel and resulting in better representation for all clients. The College will engage in a wide variety of activities, including seminars and the sharing of scholarship, in order to promote these goals.

Thomas F. Segalla, a nationally recognized authority on insurance law and bad-faith claims and a founding partner of Goldberg Segalla LLP, is the College’s inaugural president.

“The time seemed right to bring together the finest lawyers from the United States and Canada, who represent some of the best minds practicing in a wide range of legal and insurance disciplines,” said Mr. Segalla. “While our goals include providing education for the bench and bar as well as the insurance industry, we believe it’s the dialogue among our diverse members that will lead to creative resolutions and improved representation for all parties in a dispute. And with all the complex coverage questions that are already emerging in the wake of Hurricane Sandy as well as other recent events, we feel the mission of the College to improve the practice of insurance law is, perhaps, now more important than ever.”

Edward J. (Ned) Currie, Jr., a founding shareholder in Currie Johnson Griffin Gaines & Myers, P.A., is its secretary and treasurer.

The College’s founding Board of Regents is made up of the foremost practitioners in insurance coverage and extracontractual litigation. Its members are:

  • Michael F. Aylward, senior partner, Morrison Mahoney LLP
  • Michael J. Bidart, senior and managing partner, Shernoff Bidart Echeverria Bentley LLP
  • Bruce D. Celebrezze, partner, Sedgwick LLP
  • Robert D. Chesler, shareholder, Anderson Kill & Olick, P.C.
  • Lewis F. Collins, Jr., partner, Butler Pappas Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP
  • Fred A. Cunningham, partner, Slawson, Cunningham, Whalen & Gaspari, P.L.       
  • Joshua Gold, shareholder, Anderson Kill & Olick, P.C.
  • Dan D. Kohane, senior member, Hurwitz & Fine, P.C.
  • Jean M. Lawler, senior and managing partner, Murchison & Cumming LLP
  • Lorelie S. Masters, partner, Jenner & Block
  • Mary E. McCutcheon, partner, Farella Braun + Martel LLP
  • Kirk A. Pasich, partner, Dickstein Shapiro LLC
  • Richard T. Phillips, partner, Smith Phillips Mitchell & Scott LLP
  • Gale White, partner, White and Williams LLP

For more information, please visit americancollegecec.org.