| ABOUT THE ARMADILLO CLUB |
The Armadillo Club
- Purpose:
The Armadillo Club is comprised of over 600 attorneys nationwide
(and one in Canada!) 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 more than 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 over 600 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, Tampa, DC, Minneapolis,
San Diego, Seattle, Indianapolis, and Dallas. We also now cover most of
California and have a West Coast Branch. Actually we are now
international with one attorney in Canada!
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.
- 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). When
applying for membership, feel free to submit evidence of fun-ness.
- 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. Affirm that you meet
ALL of the above requirements. Once you have been officially approved,
you may then request to join the LinkedIN Armadillo Club Group. I admit
NO ONE to the LinkedIN Group until they are an official member. I am
glad to post whatever is appropriate that you would like me to post in the
newsletters that go out whenever I feel like sending one out and have time,
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. : ) Send me any news or job postings you would like
included in the newsletter and feel free to post same in the LinkedIN Group
once admitted.
- 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.
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.
| 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. |
We thank our friends below for their generous support of the Marty Jordan Family Benefit. We request all Armadillos, remember them should you need the type of services or goods they provide. |
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Another great guy you should know is
John Levitske at Duff & Phelps. Many of
you met him at the last Armadillo luncheon.
John is in the firm's Dispute Consulting and
Forensic Advisory practice. John is in the
firm's Dispute Consulting and Forensic
Advisory practice. If you have a need for
independent expertise with a commercial
litigation or dispute damages issue,
valuation issue, merger & acquisition
purchase price adjustment issue, or fraud,
forensic and investigative services, call
John. The firm has a much broader range
of services and offices across the country.
Be sure to check it out.
Website
Contact John at 312-697-4600
John Levitske at Duff & Phelps. Many of
you met him at the last Armadillo luncheon.
John is in the firm's Dispute Consulting and
Forensic Advisory practice. John is in the
firm's Dispute Consulting and Forensic
Advisory practice. If you have a need for
independent expertise with a commercial
litigation or dispute damages issue,
valuation issue, merger & acquisition
purchase price adjustment issue, or fraud,
forensic and investigative services, call
John. The firm has a much broader range
of services and offices across the country.
Be sure to check it out.
Website
Contact John at 312-697-4600
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Updated 1/20/2012 -
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| Photo by John Tollefson, Tollefson Bradley Ball & Mitchell LLP in Dallas/Fort Worth. Double click to enlarge. |