People News: Berkley Program Specialists, ESIS, RLI

Cass Davis joins the executive leadership team as senior vice president and chief claims officer, according to an announcement by Berkley Program Specialists, a Berkley Company.

In this position, Davis will be responsible for managing all aspects of program claims from strategic direction to operational excellence, quality management and analytics. With extensive corporate and insurance carrier experience that includes working for Fortune 500 companies, his claims knowledge spans both commercial and personal insurance as well as multiple product lines.

Davis will report to Greg Douglas, president of Berkley Program Specialists.

Davis offers 24 years of claims experience in the insurance industry including program claims management, complex litigation management, auditing and TPA administration.

ESIS, Inc., Chubb’s risk management solutions division, announced the appointment of Todd DeStefano as senior vice president of ESIS ProClaim, which provides a comprehensive suite of claims administration and risk consulting services to healthcare providers, professionals, manufacturers, and their insurers. The practice specializes in adjudicating medical malpractice and professional liability claims, accountant malpractice, management liability, and other complex risks and exposures including toxic tort, environmental, and asbestos.

DeStefano has 30 years of insurance industry experience in property casualty, professional liability commercial and personal lines, excess, reinsurance, and group benefits. He joined ESIS from PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, where he was the director of PwC’s Underwriting, Claims, and Insurance Operations Practice. He is a former risk manager and insurance broker and has held various senior executive and leadership positions in claims, underwriting, marketing, sales and operations at insurance carriers and Third Party Administrators.

He will report directly to Joe Vasquez, president of ESIS.

RLI Corp. announced that Betsy McLaughlin is being promoted to vice president, chief claim counsel, effective April 1, 2017. She will assume the responsibilities of Brian J. Casey, who will retire on March 31, 2017. Casey will continue to serve in an advisory role with the company upon his retirement.

McLaughlin joined RLI in 2000 as director, Claim, and held various positions in the claim department until being promoted to vice president, claim counsel in 2015. McLaughlin has more than 20 years of insurance industry experience.

Casey joined RLI in 1996 as manager, Casualty Claims, and served in various roles in the Claim Department until his promotion to vice president, chief claim counsel in 2015. He retires after more than 25 years in the insurance industry.