People

Dallas-based KMC Insurance Services promoted Warren Lee to vice president of its commercial lines department. Lee focuses on large commercial accounts, specializing in the home building, roofing, real estate development, and oil and gas industries.

Lee has been the recipient of prestigious awards, such as the Curley Insurance Group Employee of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.

U.S. Risk Brokers, a subsidiary of U.S. Risk Insurance Group, named James C. Dalton as senior broker in its Houston office. Dalton will assume responsibility of executive liability coverage for private and publicly held companies, identifying and delivering customized insurance and risk management solutions, including D&O, EPLI, professional liability and general partnerships.

Dalton has more than 15 years of corporate and management liability experience and has held various positions with leading insurance brokerages. Prior to joining U.S. Risk, Dalton was with Seitlin Property and Casualty, of Florida.

Specialty Risk Associates Inc., based in Shreveport, La., has added Kathleen Suhy and David Wood to its team.

Suhy joined the company as a personal lines underwriter. Suhy previously worked for a local retail insurance agency.

Wood joined the commercial underwriting team at Specialty Risk Associates. He previously worked as a project manager for a national general contractor and is a 2001 graduate of LSU Baton Rouge with a degree in Construction Management.

Beecher Carlson, based in Atlanta, Ga., named Sharon D. Brainard as senior vice president in its National Casualty Practice. Brainard brings over 13 years of experience to Beecher Carlson with expertise and specialization in the design, marketing and analysis of large Casualty and alternative risk programs. Brainard has worked with a wide range of clients in the retail, manufacturing, health care, transportation and hospitality industries.

Prior to joining Beecher Carlson, Brainard was employed by Aon as a senior casualty broker in the southeast, where she was responsible for the placement and servicing of national accounts.

The Board of the Independent Insurance Agents of Dallas (IIAD) announced that Carol Kull has joined the association as executive director. Kull comes to the IIAD from the Home Builder’s Association of Livingston County, Mich., where she was the executive director for the past 13 years. In that position she was responsible for all budgeting, planning, media relations, governmental affairs and general management.

The Arkansas Insurance Department reported that Insurance Commissioner Julie Benafield Bowman has been elected vice-chair of the Southeastern Zone of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The Southeastern Zone includes commissioners and regulators from Florida, West Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Selected as chairman of the NAIC’s Antifraud Task Force Seminar and Training Working Group is Cory Cox, director of the Arkansas Insurance Department’s Criminal Investigation Division.

Bill Lacy, the department’s Property and Casualty Division director, was elected to the Board of Directors of SERFF which is a System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing utilized by the insurance departments of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 1,700 insurance companies. The SERFF system is overseen by the board and the NAIC.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and the Texas FAIR Plan Association Board of Directors announced the election of new officers for both organizations.

James Langford, vice president of Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Companies, was elected chairman; Jim Wade, president of Hollywood Hits Inc., was elected vice chairman and Corise Morrison, executive director, Residual Market Underwriting, USAA, was elected secretary-treasurer.

TWIA and the FAIR Plan are residual markets in Texas for windstorm insurance and homeowners insurance for people who are unable to secure such coverage in the voluntary market.

The Texas Advisory Council on Arson (ATAC) has elected new officers for 2007. Elected were: President – David Mitchell, property claims supervisor for the Republic Groups; vice president – Stacy Singleton, director of emergency operations in Burleson; and secretary/treasurer – Kay Viney, KLV Consulting in Addison. Each officer was elected to a two-year term.

Members of the ATAC board who were elected to three year terms were Daniel Lesslie, arson investigator in Carrollton; Howard Hill, fire marshal in Hurst; Steve Shaw, detective with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office; Stephen Seddig, fire marshal in Wylie; David Mitchell, Stacy Singleton; and Kay Viney.

ATAC also honored two fire investigators for their work in education and law enforcement. The awards were presented March 22 at the 52nd Annual Texas Fire & Arson Investigators Seminar in Austin.

State Fire Marshal investigator Chris Janssen of Rockport was awarded the 2007 ATAC Law Enforcement Award for his arrests and referrals for arson. In 2006, Janssen referred 16 individuals for prosecution and 12 have already been indicted or convicted on arson related charges. Janssen has served in the State Fire Marshal’s Office for six years.

Tarrant County Deputy Fire Marshal Michael Rehfeld was awarded the 2007 ATAC Fire Service Special Award. Rehfeld was recognized for his leadership and support for implementing a Juvenile Firesetters Program countywide.

More than 200 fire investigators from Texas attended the five day fire and arson seminar.

ATAC funds the Arson Hotline, which is 1-877-4-FIRE-45 (1-877-434-7345).

To submit information for “People,” e-mail sjones@insurancejournal.com.

Topics USA Texas Agencies Casualty Arkansas