Claims People: Gallagher Bassett, Coverys, Distinguished Programs

Kirsten Mickelson has joined Gallagher Bassett as cyber practice leader for its specialty liability division, GB Specialty.

Mickelson has more than a decade of cyber claims industry experience, GB said in a press release. She has handled, supervised and resolved thousands of cyber incidents and privacy liability matters including data breaches, cyber extortion, ransomware, distributed denial-of-service attacks and business-interruption losses for all classes of business throughout the country, the company said.

Prior to joining GB, Mickelson served as cyber team manager and counsel at Coalition Inc.

Mickelson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley and her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Davis – School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in California and before the US District Courts in California and the Ninth Circuit. She holds adjuster licenses in nearly all United States jurisdictions. Mickelson is a frequent speaker on cyber-related panels.

She will report to Robert Blasio, GB Specialty’s managing director.

Coverys, a medical professional liability insurer, has appointed Cathy Donahue as its chief operating officer. She will oversee a wide range of business units for the carrier, including claims.

Donahue has led successful operational model redesigns, efficiency strategies and product delivery initiatives during a 20-year insurance career, Coverys said in a press release.

Donahue most recently served as assistant vice president and chief administrative officer at The Hartford, where she oversaw the diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy for the Claims and Operations Division. Prior to that, she held senior operations roles at Chubb & Son, including vice president and managing director of worldwide surety operations and operations manager for North America.

Donahue holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Gettysburg College.

Distinguished Programs, a national insurance program, has appointed Michelle Stegmann as vice president of claims for its Fine Art and Collectibles program.

Stegmann has more than 30 years of industry claims experience, mostly in leadership positions, the company said in a press release.

Stegmann will lead the claims function for the Fine Art and Collectibles insurance group. She will be responsible for developing the claims best practices, systems and internal infrastructure in conjunction with the company’s carrier partners.

Prior to joining Distinguished, Stegmann served as senior vice president of claims for Crum & Forster. Before then, she held leadership and management roles at C.V. Starr, Resolute Management Chicago, CNA, and Fireman’s Fund/Allianz.

Stegmann obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Juris Doctor from the Cardozo School of Law. She is a member of the New York and New Jersey bar and is licensed to adjust claims in 13 states.

Anderson Kill, a national insurance recovery law firm, has promoted shareholder Luma Al-Shibib in New York to co-chairwoman of the firm’s Cyber Insurance Recovery Group.

Al-Shibib focuses her practice on insurance recovery for corporate policyholders, with an emphasis on cyber liability insurance, crime insurance, directors & officers liability insurance, and other claims-made professional liability insurance. She has obtained recoveries for losses from data breaches, ransomware and phishing attacks under all-risk and fidelity crime policies as well as cyber policies, Anderson Kill said in a press release.

Al-Shibib is also co-chairwoman of Anderson Kill’s Diversity Committee and involved in Anderson Kill’s Women’s Network.

Al-Shibib received a Juris Doctor from the Brooklyn Law School in 2002.She received a Bachelor of Arts from Connecticut College in 1997.

While in law school, Luma interned as a student law clerk for US District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain with the Southern District of New York.

Ramona Tanabe will replace John Ruser as chief executive officer of the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization.

Tanabe will assume responsibilities on May 1. Ruser, who has led the organization since 2015, will stay on temporarily as advisor to the CEO to ensure a smooth transition, WCRI said.

“While I plan to stay involved in the industry, I look forward to scaling back a little,” Ruser said in a press release. “In Ramona’s seasoned hands, I know the future is bright for WCRI.”

Tanabe has held a number of key leadership positions at WCRI, among them leading the Institute’s flagship line of core benchmarking studies, designing and conducting studies on workplace health policy, and managing WCRI’s data collection and technology investments. She has also provided legal counsel, testified at governmental hearings, and managed core operations on behalf of the Institute.