< Previous78BEST’S REVIEW • DECEMBER 2022 Insurance Professional Resources Phelps Partner Makes 2022 South Trailblazers List Phelps partner LaToya Merritt has been selected as one of The American Lawyer’s 2022 South Trailblazers. The October issue of this industry publication recognizes professionals in the South who have moved the needle in the legal industry. Merritt was chosen for her work with clients on employment issues and her commitment to creating pathways to success for diverse attorneys at all levels of the legal profession. Merritt leads the labor and employment group in Phelps’ Jackson, Mississippi, office and helps clients handle claims of discrimination, harassment and civil rights and constitutional rights violations. She also conducts diversity training and educational programs for companies throughout the region and has trained hundreds of executives and managers on employment law and constitutional law issues. In addition to her practice, Merritt spearheads the firmwide diversity and inclusion committee, which guides Phelps’ diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to, as Merritt notes, “lead the way forward in our profession by pushing education, transparency and the unique benefits, especially for our clients, that diverse experiences bring to the table.” Merritt is also deeply engaged in her community. She’s active in local and national bar associations and sits on the boards of the Grambling University Foundation and Canopy Children’s Solutions. She’s also a 2016-2017 fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and a graduate of Leadership Jackson and has been recognized by Jackson Public Schools for her commitment to helping the district and its students. Phelps is a full-service law firm of more than 350 attorneys in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, and London. Phelps consists of six core practice groups: admiralty, business, health care, insurance, labor and employment, and litigation. Qualified Member Law Firm Publishes Article on Interlocutory Appeal In a recent article, attorney W. Thomas Chappell from Qualified Member law firm Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black, with assistance from summer associate Alexa Kathol Macumber, looks at interlocutory appeal, a process that occurs when an issue is so pressing that an appellate court resolves it before the case proceeds to final judgment in the trial court. To read the article, visit https://vanblacklaw.com/ appellate/civil-interlocutory-appeals-in-virginia/. FIND THE ATTORNEY, ADJUSTER OR EXPERT SERVICE PROVIDER THAT FITS YOUR NEEDS WITH BEST’S INSURANCE PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES 22.BIPR064 Our Insight, Your Advantage ™ Learn More: www.ambest.com/professionalresources www.ambest.com • (908) 439-2200 LaToya Merritt Best’s Insurance Professional Resources The following company is a newly qualified member in Best’s Recommended Expert Service Providers - Consultants. Clear Advantage Risk Management Expert Testimony and Litigation Support Delray Beach, FL, USA • 561-276-9158 For information on the firms highlighted in this issue and Best’s Insurance Professional Resources, visit www.claimsresource.ambest.com/ search/DirectoryCenter.aspx79BEST’S REVIEW • DECEMBER 2022 AM Best Business Development RepresentativeMobile PhoneEmail AddressOfficeAreaCovered RATING SERVICES Brad Mazur, Managing Director+1 (908) 268-0763brad.mazur@ambest.comUSA (NJ)BMU; CAN; CAR; USA & US Territories (PR & VI) Brendan Tyne, Associate Director +1 (908) 323-1412brendan.tyne@ambest.comUSA (NJ) BMU; CAN; CAR; USA & US Territories (PR & VI) Daniel Giunta, Account Manager +1 (908) 455-6249daniel.giunta@ambest.comUSA (NJ)BMU; CAN; CAR; USA & US Territories (PR & VI) Nick Charteris-Black, Managing Director +44 20 7397 0284nick.charteris-black@ambest.comLondon EMEA Edem Kuenyehia, Director +44 20 7397 0280edem.kuenyehia@ambest.comLondonSub-Saharan Africa Riccardo Ciccozzi, Director +44 20 7397 0309riccardo.ciccozzi@ambest.comLondonSouthern Europe William Mills, Senior Director +44 20 7397 0323william.mills@ambest.comLondonNorthern Europe Róisín Gallagher, Associate Director +44 20 7397 0261roisin.gallagher@ambest.comLondonEurope Carlos De la Torre, Senior Director +52 55 7903 5420carlos.delatorre@ambest.comMexico City CAR & LATAM Rob Curtis, Managing Director+65 9633 6118robert.curtis@ambest.comSingapore AP; 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To learn more about The Nelson Collection at Lloyd’s, visit www.ambest.com/nelson80BEST’S REVIEW • DECEMBER 2022 The Last Word D o you believe in miracles? In 1980, the United States men’s hockey team did. It overcame all odds to defeat the favored Soviet Union en route to winning Olympic gold. Rick Lindsey, the president, chairman and chief executive officer of Prime Insurance Co. and Prime Property & Casualty Insurance, says he was inspired by that team, which he saw firsthand when he was invited to try out for the squad in 1979. Lindsey, a Utah native, played on a travel team and attended a hockey school each summer with University of Wisconsin coach Bob Johnson and Art Berglund, an International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Famer. When he was 19, he was invited to try out for the Olympic team. He didn’t make the team, but the experience served as a wake-up call for Lindsey, who said he realized it was “time to get a real job.” “It made me very motivated to jump into something that I have knowledge of,” said Lindsey, who was also working at his dad’s MGA at the time. Lindsey started his own company in 1982, and began doing national programs for groups and associations after Congress passed the Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986. He says he owes a lot to his Olympic hockey experience. “I think that whole youth experience and the Olympic hockey team experience gave me the confidence to believe in myself and a team,” Lindsey said. “I have 300 employees now, and I’m blessed to have people who believe. When other people look at it, they don’t believe it. There’s no way you’re doing that unless you have a bunch of wins, and you have a long history of winning lawsuits.” One of the main things he’s learned, Lindsey said, is that high-risk ventures aren’t high risk if you can trust your insureds. That’s why he’s very outspoken when it comes to litigation: Lindsey says insurers shouldn’t be afraid to fight for their insureds in court, and asserts that anyone who believes the headlines about so-called “nuclear verdicts”—where insurers are finding themselves on the wrong end of billion-dollar judgments —is “drinking the punch of the enemy.” As an example, Lindsey points to a case in which a Florida jury awarded $411.73 million to a plaintiff who was injured in a 45-vehicle pileup in 2018 and had filed a lawsuit against a trucking company Prime insured. Once the headlines settled down, Prime was able to negotiate, ultimately paying out $991,000, according to a press release issued by Prime in 2020. “Reality is what you can collect, not some fake verdict that you put out there and put on your website,” Lindsey said. He noted the people who are most fearful of nuclear verdicts are the insurers themselves. “That’s what surprises me.” He says when he knows the lawyer is right, he will pay up and move on. When he believes he’s right, though, he will fight. Lindsey says the key for insurers is to partner with insureds who will be willing to fight lawsuits. It’s just as important to keep insureds happy, paying claims when they should be paid. His approach has worked so far, and the results sometimes surprise his critics. In 2010, Prime Insurance was successfully defended in what was believed to be the first victory in Mississippi for an insurer in a Hurricane Katrina lawsuit. “The jury said, ‘If my insurance company would have treated me the way Prime treated this guy, I would’ve been happy,’” Lindsey said. “Every claim I look at I think, ‘What if it was me on the other side?’” BR Former Olympic Hockey Hopeful Takes Competitive Spirit Into the Insurance Arena Insurers shouldn’t be afraid to fight for their insureds in court, says Prime Insurance CEO Rick Lindsey. by Anthony Bellano Anthony Bellano is an associate editor. He can be reached at anthony.bellano@ambest.com. Rick LindseySaint Joseph’s University’s TUVEFOUT DPOUJOVFUPQFSGPSNXFMMJOJOEVTUSZ DPNQFUJUJPOTBEEJOHGJSTUQMBDFJOUIF ".#FTUTUVEFOUDPNQFUJUJPOUPBO BMSFBEZJNQSFTTJWFMJTU The students and their fellow insurance majors follow a rigorous CPCU-aligned curriculum that’s infused with analytics and supported by the prestigious Maguire Academy of Insurance and Risk Management. 5IF.BHVJSF"DBEFNZJTQMFBTFEUPBOOPVODFUIFMBVODIPGUIF4QFODFS%JHJUBM *OTJHIUT-BCUPGVSUIFSFOIBODFUIFTUVEFOUFYQFSJFODFUISPVHIJOTVSBODF BOBMZUJDT JOOPWBUJPO UIPVHIUMFBEFSTIJQBOEJOEVTUSZQBSUOFSTIJQT 5PMFBSONPSF WJTJUTKVFEVJOTVSBODFPSDPOUBDUUIF"DBEFNZT&YFDVUJWFJO3FTJEFODF .JDIBFM&"OHFMJOBBU 3JTJOHUP UIF5PQ Maguire Academy of Insurance and Risk ManagementWorkers’ Compensation • Transportation – Liability & Physical Damage • Fine Art & Collections • Structured Insurance Construction – Including New York and Project-Based Primary & Excess Liability • Financial Lines • Aviation & Space Homeowners – Including California Wildfire & Gulf Region Hurricane • Environmental & Pollution Liability • Public Entity Shared & Layered Property • Warranty & Contractual Liability • Reinsurance • Infrastructure • Surety • Entertainment & Sports ...And More To Come. 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