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Melissa represents her clients in complex trial and appellate litigation across Georgia and serves as the Chair of the CSKL Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Practice Group and Co-Chair of the General Liability Practice Group. A large portion of her practice focuses on coverage and bad faith issues, both advising clients in pre-suit matters and litigating those issues in courts statewide. Melissa also has an active general liability litigation practice with an emphasis on premises liability, wrongful death, and catastrophic injury claims. She has tried numerous cases and successfully represented her clients in appeals at all levels of Georgia state and federal courts.

Melissa recently completed a two-year term as a barrister in the Joseph Henry Lumpkin Inn of Court. The Inn’s members, made up of judges and lawyers of distinguished experience, select ten barristers each year, seeking to identify lawyers in their first eight years of practice who possess the potential to move into the top echelon of the bar. The Inn focuses on fostering relationships between those who are both recognized as the ablest in the profession and also exhibit excellence in professionalism, ethics, and civility. 

Gary F. Baumann is a founding partner who earned his Juris Doctorate degree, with honors, from Nova Southeastern University in 1996. He practices many areas of civil litigation, including Construction Defect Litigation, Professional Liability, Crane Litigation, Premises Liability, Liquor Liability, Wrongful Death, Auto Negligence, Mass Tort and Environmental Claims.

He has trial experience throughout Florida and is currently a member of the Defense Steering Committee handling Chinese Drywall Claims in the Multi-District Litigation in New Orleans. He regularly presents accredited seminars on topics such as Current Events in Florida Construction Defect Law; Premise Liability; and Claims Adjuster Ethics

He recently obtained a $109,000,000 defense verdict, one of the largest in the State of Florida for 2015. Remarkably, he was asked to try this catastrophic case approximately forty-five days before the start of the trial.

Kathy is a Partner in the Charleston office of Copeland, Stair, Kingma & Lovell, LLP.  Her practice focuses primarily on commercial litigation, professional liability defense and construction defect matters.  She handles a wide variety of litigation in both South Carolina state and federal courts for corporate clients and individuals.  Kathy has successfully developed and executed resolution plans in dozens of pre-litigation disputes and litigated many cases to verdict.

After law school, Kathy began her career as a Law Clerk to the Honorable A. Victor Rawl, Judge for the Ninth Circuit.  She then served as a prosecutor in Charleston, South Carolina for two years. Kathy has handled legal matters in venues throughout the state over the last fifteen years, including jury and non-jury trials.

Jaion Chung is a Partner in the Los Angeles and Orange County offices of Poole Shaffery & Koegle, LLP .

She upholds the firm’s service-oriented approach in dealing with all aspects of civil litigation, whether responding to an emergency involving a catastrophic injury (as part of the firm’s emergency response program), to obtaining verdicts, and having judgments affirmed on appeal. As a civil defense litigator whose primary areas of practice include trucking accident claims, cargo claims, product liability, and general liability, Jaion works with her clients to obtain practical resolutions in an effective and efficient manner.

Jaion has been consecutively recognized as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers Magazine between 2012 and 2017.

Jaion is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, an invitation-only, peer-reviewed group of approximately 2,500 members consisting of the world’s leading corporate and insurance lawyers and insurance executives.

Jaion also belongs to the Trucking Industry Defense Association (TIDA), a nonprofit association dedicated to sharing knowledge and resources for the defense of the trucking industry.

Jaion is also a member of Themis Advocates Group, a national network of preeminent law firms.

Mr. Cocco is a highly-skilled former FBI agent and executive manager with over 27 years of experience in security management skills, crisis and consequence management, criminal investigations, and forensic investigations and interviews. As a Joint Terrorism Task Force manager, he gained broad experience in investigating violent extremists and terrorist organizations, and in conducting and overseeing FBI homeland security investigations on a global basis.

Mr. Cocco can adapt to change and apply critical thinking and analysis to complex matters, summarizing findings to allow for fact-based decision making. Provides strong law enforcement liaison skills, including serving as FBI representative at Arizona state and local law enforcement and intelligence sharing working groups.

Mr. Cocco’s areas of expertise include crisis and emergency management, investigation, evidence collection, and investigative reports, fraud and financial analysis, use of force (Expert witness), “Active Shooter” training, domain assessment, intelligence collection, and analysis. Mr. Cocco is fluent in Spanish.

Lauren currently serves as Claims Counsel for Root Insurance where she addresses coverage issues which develop in the

claims handling organization.  But in her 16 years as an attorney, Lauren has worked in a wide variety of roles.  

Prior to joining Root, Lauren was a Specialty Claims Attorney at AmeriTrust Insurance Group (previously known as Meadowbrook) where she oversaw litigated claims including professional liability, aircraft crashes, medical malpractice, environmental, commercial auto, copyright infringement, cyber liability, disability protections, and municipal law coverage including employment, zoning, unlawful force, property rights, theft in office, and premises liability.  She also administered the self-defense liability insurance program.

Before going in-house, Lauren was a Litigation Attorney at Ross, Midian & Breitmayer, LLC, a small firm in Columbus, OH where she represented plaintiffs in all stages of litigation all over Central and Southern Ohio.

Lauren also spent more than seven years as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Franklin County, Ohio.  The majority of that time, she served in the Special Victims Unit prosecuting felony sexual offenses, physical and sexual abuse of children, and domestic violence-related fatalities.

Joseph L. Hogan focuses his practice on complex civil litigation, including defending businesses and individuals against a variety of personal injury, products liability, construction defect, and property damage lawsuits. Before joining Scheer.Law PLLC, Mr. Hogan clerked for the Honorable Frank A. Pfiffner of the Alaska Superior Court in Anchorage.

Mr. Hogan received his Juris Doctor from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2015, where he graduated cum laude. In law school, Mr. Hogan won awards for oral and written advocacy and represented his school at regional moot court and mock trial competitions. Mr. Hogan served as a Lead Articles Editor on the Lewis & Clark Law Review where he published a comment Like Oil and Water: Equity Crowdfuding and Securities Regulation. Mr. Hogan also found time to work for a plaintiffs' law firm where he worked on issues involving personal injury, automotive and trucking accidents, medical malpractice, and negligent supervision.

Highly motivated leader with track record of demonstrated success. 25+years experience in the insurance industry as an insurance defense and in-house corporate counsel with subject matter expertise in commercial and personal claims, litigation management and defending extra-contractual claims in suit. Licensed Attorney in TX, CO, OH, DC, MD and VA. Results-oriented.

Mitchell S. Kaplan has been an attorney at Zarwin Baum his entire legal career and is only the firm’s 2nd managing director in its entire 60-year history. Kaplan focuses his practice on casualty defense, particularly trucking and transportation, liquor liability, commercial property liability, professional liability, and insurance coverage. He is retained by an extensive list of insurance carriers and third-party claim administrators to represent their insureds.

One of the founding members of Gallo Vitucci Klar LLP and current Managing Partner, Howard has over 25 years of experience in complex civil litigation cases including construction defense, transportation, insurance coverage, premises cases, professional liability and product liability matters.

Howard’s area of expertise includes high exposure and sensitive litigation arising out of the defense of general contractors in the New York City crane collapse cases, common carrier litigation and products liability defense. Howard was appointed as lead counsel to formulate and successfully execute the global settlement resulting out of the 2008 East 51st crane collapse which caused numerous fatalities and extensive and costly property damage. He also defended one of the country’s largest bus companies when its double-decker bus crashed into a Syracuse bridge resulting in fatalities and catastrophic injuries, as well as defending one of the country’s largest big-box stores in numerous product liability cases brought by plaintiffs alleging both severe and disfiguring burns caused by alleged improperly designed decorative “liquid gel” candles.

Under Howard’s leadership, GVK has tripled its numbers and expanded its offices to include New York City, New Jersey, Westchester and Long Island. By fostering the addition of non-traditional practice groups and adding attorneys who promote the highest level of skill and expertise, Howard maintains a philosophy and culture that fosters economic efficiency on behalf of GVK’s clients.

Howard is a founding member and a leader of the Themis Advocates Group, a national network of elite insurance defense litigators in most of the major cities in the US. Themis provides GVK with a national footprint that many regional firms lack, high-level educational opportunities and an enhanced means of communication for its insurance and self-insured defense clients. Howard has been a regular presenter on varied insurance topics at Themis Conferences around the country.

Melissa Lin is a partner at Right Fitch Law Group and has earned the AV Preeminent Rating. Her practice includes insurance coverage and the representation of individuals, businesses, contractors, and municipalities in tort and contract litigation, primarily in the areas of general liability, personal injury, employment, construction defect, and product liability litigation. She was peer selected as a Best Lawyer in America in Construction Law for 2021-2022, and honored as a 2012-2019 Southwest Super Lawyers Rising Star. In 2018 the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) recognized her as one of the nineteen Best Under Forty attorneys in the country for her prominence and distinction in the practice of law and her demonstrated commitment to Asian Pacific American civic or community affairs. In 2013 she was named to Lawyers of Color’s Inaugural Hot List for the Western Region, and as one of the top valley attorneys in Phoenix by North Valley magazine. She has spoken and been published both locally and nationally on legal writing, diversity and construction law.

Melissa is especially adept at dealing with difficult individuals and scenarios. In situations where most attorneys would snap and let their emotions take over, she is able to calmly diffuse the situation and move the case forward to the benefit of the client. She is a skilled counselor that is able to analyze complex matters and provide clear explanations and solutions for clients.

Malinda Matlock is a Partner with Rhodes Hieronymus in Oklahoma. She practices in the areas of Professional Liability (Medical, Legal, A&E, E&O, D&O), Employment Litigation, Sexual Misconduct, Premise Liability, Transportation, Bad Faith Insurance Claims, and Coverage Disputes.

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Malinda attended the University of Oklahoma College of Business and the OU College of Law. She began her career in litigation with a medical malpractice defense firm in Tulsa, followed by serving as Chief Compliance Officer for a large comprehensive health system. Malinda relocated to Oklahoma City in 2000 to expand her practice to all-inclusive insurance defense litigation.

Malinda has tried lawsuits before arbitrators, judges, and juries in federal courts in Oklahoma and Missouri, and Oklahoma state courts. She has also resolved hundreds of cases through motion practice, negotiation, and mediation.

Maz has been at Melick & Porter his entire legal career. He began as a Law Clerk in the summer of 1988 and joined the firm as an Associate in the fall of 1989.

Maz has extensive experience in complex civil litigation matters, representing clients in both federal and state courts for 30 years. A significant portion of his practice involves employment law and includes providing major national corporations with oversight and defense of their employment litigation. Much of that entails early and quick evaluation and resolution of claims or lawsuits by private mediation. He also defends companies on housing discrimination, sexual harassment, and a wide variety of wrongful termination, discrimination and retaliation claims.

Maz also represents national youth organizations and private schools throughout New England on negligence claims involving sexual abuse. Maz has handled, defended, and tried dozens of cases involving premises liability, liquor liability, construction litigation, gasoline contamination, oil spills, asbestos, product liability, and other complex litigation.

A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Maz obtained both his B.A. and J.D. from Marquette University. During law school, he served as the Executive Editor of both the Marquette Law Review and the Journal of the National Sports Law Institute. He published a Comment in the Marquette Law Review on Rule 11 sanctions in the Seventh Circuit. He also published an article in the Illinois Bar Journal on obscenity law. While in law school, Maz interned for Judge John L. Coffey of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. At graduation, Maz was honored with the Dean's Award for Outstanding Service to the Law School and Profession.

Maz continues to be an active contributor to legal scholarship. He is a frequent author in the National Retail and Restaurant Defense Association newsletter. Maz is also a frequent speaker for national insurance companies and insurance trade associations on topics such as early mediation, employment litigation, toxic torts, and defense of sexual abuse cases. He has also lectured for the national Non-Profit Risk Management Institute in Washington, D.C.

Practice Areas
Business and Commercial Litigation
Class Action Litigation
Construction Litigation
Creditors’ Rights Litigation
Employment Law
Insurance Litigation/Coverage Analysis
Premises Liability
Products Liability
Professional Liability and Malpractice
Trucking Litigation

Trials: Jim has tried in excess of 75 jury trials and often serves as an arbitrator and mediator.

Bar Admissions
Missouri, 1983
Kansas, 1988
Nebraska, 2003
U.S. District Court

U.S. Court of Appeals

U.S. Supreme Court

Education
University of Missouri — Columbia (J.D. 1983)

University of Missouri — Columbia (B.S., B.A. 1980)

Professional Affiliations
Council on Litigation Management
Defense Research Institute
Kansas Bar Association
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
The Missouri Bar
Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers (Board of Directors 2004–2011)
Nebraska Bar Association
Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys

Special Designations
AV rating in Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory
Fellow — American College of Trial Lawyers
American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
Best of the Bar/Kansas City Business Journal
Arbitrator, National Association of Securities Dealers
Missouri Bar — Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Performance Evaluation Committee
International Order of Barristers
Themis Advocates Group

Jim is a speaker on legal topics including bad faith litigation, wrongful death litigation, damages, and trial strategy and presentation.

Mr. Pappas joined Sheehy Ware Pappas & Grubbs in 1997, and is a member of the firm’s product liability, construction, toxic tort, and general litigation groups. In his over 35 years of law practice, he has developed experience in a number of different substantive areas of trial practice, including products liability, professional errors and omissions, construction defect and construction accident, transportation, energy, toxic tort and environmental, and general tort and commercial litigation. Mr. Pappas regularly represents:

• Property owners, general and subcontractors in construction defect and accident litigation.
• Fortune 500 companies defending against claims of product defects, vehicular accidents, personal injury claims, and commercial disputes.
• Product manufacturers and distributors, premises owners and contractors in toxic tort and other product liability claims.
• Insurance agents and brokers, design and construction professionals, attorneys and others in claims involving claims of professional negligence.
• Domestic and foreign insurance companies, both admitted and surplus, and their insureds in first and third party litigation.

Bob joined the firm in 1984 after graduating from law school and has made it his professional home. In the years since, he has tried numerous jury cases in both federal and state courts involving a variety of civil matters, including professional malpractice, insurance coverage and general liability claims. Bob oversees our firm's appellate practice and has successfully argued cases before the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court. Among his reported decisions are Carr v. Howard, 426 Mass. 514 (1998), a seminal Massachusetts decision addressing the scope of the medical peer review privilege in malpractice litigation, and Hipsaver v. Kiel, 464 Mass. 517 (2013), a key Massachusetts decision protecting medical professionals and scientists against claims of commercial disparagements based on published results of their research.

Bob's practice has earned him Martindale Hubbell's highest AV Peer Review Rating. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2016 in the field of Insurance Law since 2016. For over a decade, Bob has been named a “Massachusetts Super Lawyer” and a “New England Super Lawyer.” Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly chose Bob as a 2012 “Lawyer of the Year” for his work on the Supreme Judicial Court social host liability decision, Juliano v. Simpson, 461 Mass. 527 (2012). In 2009, Bob was inducted as a Fellow into the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society. He has authored articles on a variety of legal cases and has published in Harvard RMF's Forum and Standard Publishing's CSR Advisor. Bob regularly speaks on topics of interest before gatherings of insurance professionals. He has delivered presentations for the Massachusetts Hospital Risk Managers Collaborative, The Massachusetts Society of Healthcare Risk Management, Boston Area Claims Executives, the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents, and the Insurance Library Association of Boston. He is a member of the Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations, as well as the Defense Research Institute (DRI).

Bob resides in Wenham, Massachusetts with his wife, Jane, and their three children.

Natalie has been working in the insurance industry for 14+ years.  As an ECG adjuster and then manager, her experience and knowledge are extensive. She has investigated multiple high-exposure claims including injuries such as fatalities, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, paralysis, and injuries resulting from assault and sexual molestation.  In her role now as Director of Client Services, she has an emphasis at the client service level.  Based on her experience, she has the ability to look at all areas of insurance from a client's perspective to ensure their needs are met. She strive to make a positive impact with her clients and coworkers on a daily basis, bringing value to others.

Deborah Saunders is Senior Director, Claims Management for Comcast NBCUniversal. She is responsible for managing all lines of Comcast and NBCUs claims programs, including Workers Compensation, Auto Liability, General Liability, Employment Practices, Property and Media Professional E&O. Prior to joining Comcast in 1998, Deborah was the Workers Compensation Claims Specialist for Campbell Soup Company. She started her career in claims as a representative for Travelers Insurance, where she handled both workers compensation and commercial liability claims. Deborah earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts. She also holds Associate in Risk Management (ARM,) Certified Workers Compensation Professional (CWCP) and Certified Claims Professional (CCP) designations and is a certified paralegal.