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.
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.
We Remember
Ted, Jerry, Audrey and all
we have lost this year.