| ABOUT THE ARMADILLO CLUB |
The Armadillo Club
- Purpose:
The Armadillo Club is comprised of attorneys who practice
primarily in the insurance COVERAGE field (not insurance
defense. There is a huge difference...) The purpose of the club
is to foster camaraderie among these attorneys primarily through
social and networking events. Simply put: we are friends-- many
for almost 20 years. We have been known to do good things
from time to time. There are no dues, no rules, and no officers.
We get together for lunch or happy hour on a periodic basis
(whenever we feel like it), and when someone needs something
(like a job for instance) we get busy and fire up the machine. We
also help support each other causes and charities when we can.
But there's no pressure to do anything, because, after all, we
work hard enough already and have other "obligations." So if
you want to join, don't plan to get on a committee because there
isn't any work to be done, no speeches to be given nor any
papers to write! (If you want to organize a fun event, on the
other hand, just let me know.)
History:
We started out as three friends who got together for lunch: Karen
Golden, former Risk Manager of Pepsi Cola General Bottlers, now Senior
Vice President - Risk Management, RR Donnelley & Sons Company;
Ellyn Dorf Hoffman, former partner at Querry & Harrow (now a mom) and
me. Then we invited a few others to join us (specifically Mary Sliwinski
formerly a partner at Montgomery Williams & John, was the 4th official
member with Susan Luther, formerly a partner at Tressler, coming in
shortly thereafter- they are both with me now at Colliau Elenius) and they
invited a few others to join us too. The Chicago Lawyer and the Daily
Herald ran articles on our group, after which others asked to join us.
AND we continue to grow. It is great to have a professional community
whose members are also friends.
- Currrent Membership:
We now have about 500 attorneys on our service lists and more that
actually view this website. Most are in Chicago, but also in New York,
Philadelphia, Boston, Buffalo, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Minneapolis,
San Diego, Seattle, Indianapolis, and Dallas. We also now cover most of
California and have a West Coast Branch.
Most of our members concentrate (or in the past concentrated) on litigating
insurance coverage under third-party liability policies. Again, most
members deal with commercial general liability policies and several have
come through the ranks litigating the mass environmental insurance
coverage cases. We also, however, have some members who analyze,
interpret and litigate coverage under homeowners, auto, first party
property, D&O, E&O, health and other types of insurance policies.
While the majority of our members represent insurance companies, we do
have members who also represent policyholders.
Although the club was originally comprised of women, we have evolved and
now have almost as many male insurance coverage attorneys on our service
list and who participate in our events. Now, the club is open to all insurance
coverage attorneys. The Armadillos have many friends and allies in the
insurance industry and we know that many non-attorneys, and defense
attorneys read this page too. If any of you have notices you would like
posted, please feel free to send me an e-mail.
- Membership Requirements:
If you are interested in being a member there are just a few pre-requisites:
- You must be an attorney whose practice is PRIMARILY insurance coverage
in some capacity (not just a dabbler or someone who has handled an
occasional coverage matter... or someone who would like to "get into
coverage.") If you do not meet this requirement, PLEASE don't ask to be
admitted. I hate saying no, but I do. I will check your firm bio and if
"coverage" is just one of many things you do, I'm probably not going to let
you in... Of course, everyone wants to be a coverage attorney, but not
everyone is. If you are looking for a job and a friend is trying to help and
suggests you join (even though you aren't really a coverage attorney), just
ask him or her to forward the e-mails with job openings to you when they
get them.
- Both men and women are welcome to join. I just keep separate service lists
so that if I have a topic that I don't think will interest the men, I don't
bother them with it...
- You have to be fun, not worry about things that don't matter and not take
yourself too seriously (or at least be working toward those goals),
- We don't engage in harmful or destructive gossip. It is a group that
promotes camaraderie and friendship. If you have tendencies to be that
way, don't apply (or change and then apply....);
- You should want to be involved in some way at least occasionally if and
when we have luncheons or other activities. In other words, I don't just
want to add names to the service list and never know who you are. If that is
all you want, just feel free to continue viewing the website and take
advantage of any useful information on it.
How to apply:
Just send me an e-mail at Linda.Weaver@cna.com and give me your name,
phone, firm, address and type of coverage you handle. IF you meet all of
the above requirements, you may consider your application approved. I am
glad to post whatever is appropriate that you would like me to post on these
pages, but like all good attorneys, I reserve the right to be the sole and final
arbiter of what is appropriate.... Hey, you're not paying anything for this,
so don't complain. : )
- Benefits:
The point is: sometimes we all need a little help from our friends. We may
be one of the only legal groups in the country whose members considers
themselves to be more than just peers or colleagues. We see ourselves as a
community, even a family. Even if we never need help, its great to have
good friends!
- If you are reading this and need a good coverage attorney, feel free to
contact me and I'll put you in touch with someone.
Thanks for reading. Hope you find something useful, enlightening or
entertaining here. Have a blessed day.
Faithfully yours,
Linda A. Weaver
Colliau Elenius et al.
Professional Disclaimer: Being a good attorney, I thought I should add an appropriate
disclaimer, so here it is:
The fact that I post any particular document, notice or piece of information on this site, does not
mean that I endorse such or have even read it (although I probably have.) Neither does it mean
that I agree (or disagree) with the contents (although to be sure I probably do one or the other,
unless, of course, 1) I choose to be ambiguous or mysterious about my feelings on the topic and
don't take a stand, or 2) I am incapable of analyzing the issue properly, am too chicken to take a
position one way or the other and the appropriate CYA language have not yet popped into my
head, or 3) unless no one has paid me enough to argue one way or the other.)
Neither is the posting of any particular person's bio, decision or article or notice an indication that
I believe he or she actually knows what he or she is talking about (although whether they do will
probably become evident if you are a true coverage attorney. If you are not then this is a warning
that you should not even be attempting to understand what is written herein. Coverage is NOT for
dabblers. You will get burned badly if you attempt to engage most, if not all, of the coverage
attorneys in this club on their turf (although as with everything in life, there are exceptions....). You
will be much wiser to hire one of them (not the exceptions) rather than do it yourself. Trust me on
this. So use any of this stuff at your own risk and for your own enjoyment.
disclaimer, so here it is:
The fact that I post any particular document, notice or piece of information on this site, does not
mean that I endorse such or have even read it (although I probably have.) Neither does it mean
that I agree (or disagree) with the contents (although to be sure I probably do one or the other,
unless, of course, 1) I choose to be ambiguous or mysterious about my feelings on the topic and
don't take a stand, or 2) I am incapable of analyzing the issue properly, am too chicken to take a
position one way or the other and the appropriate CYA language have not yet popped into my
head, or 3) unless no one has paid me enough to argue one way or the other.)
Neither is the posting of any particular person's bio, decision or article or notice an indication that
I believe he or she actually knows what he or she is talking about (although whether they do will
probably become evident if you are a true coverage attorney. If you are not then this is a warning
that you should not even be attempting to understand what is written herein. Coverage is NOT for
dabblers. You will get burned badly if you attempt to engage most, if not all, of the coverage
attorneys in this club on their turf (although as with everything in life, there are exceptions....). You
will be much wiser to hire one of them (not the exceptions) rather than do it yourself. Trust me on
this. So use any of this stuff at your own risk and for your own enjoyment.
| Updated 12/16/09 I have largely stopped posting things here for privacy reasons. Most business is done via E-mail newsletter to the members. Members who wish to be listed in a Directory may join our Armadillo Club Group in LinkedIN. Do not request to join the LinkedIN Group if you are not already a member of the Club. |
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| We Remember Ted, Jerry, Audrey and all we have lost this year. |