Hinshaw Names Five New Practice Group Chairs

The national law firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is pleased to announce the following new practice group chair appointments:

Ellen B. Silverman — Consumer Financial Services Practice

Ellen Silverman focuses her practice in consumer litigation, both individual cases and defending class actions. She divides her practice among two distinct areas: (1) managing consumer financial services litigation for large, national banks and credit card companies across the country and (2) representing mortgage lenders and servicers in mortgage loan litigation. Ms. Silverman also practices in the areas of business litigation, real estate litigation and insurance litigation. She earned her J.D. (1989) from The George Washington University Law School and her B.A. (1986), with high honors, from Douglass College, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Sergio E. Acosta — Government Practice

Sergio Acosta is an experienced criminal litigator and investigator and also leads Hinshaw's White Collar Defense & Internal Investigations practice. He has represented companies, government entities and individuals in matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, health care fraud, complex financial fraud, criminal tax violations, export regulations and criminal and civil forfeiture. Mr. Acosta's practice also encompasses corporate governance, corporate internal investigations, regulatory enforcement, commercial litigation and gaming law. Before joining Hinshaw, Mr. Acosta served as Chief of the General Crimes Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois. Mr. Acosta earned his J.D. (1985) from The George Washington University School of Law and his B.A. (1982) from DePaul University.

Scott M. Seaman and Ronald L. Kammer — Insurance Services Practice

Scott Seaman and Ronald Kammer have been appointed to co-chair the firm's global Insurance Services Practice Group. In 2014, Hinshaw created a detailed strategy to deepen the firm's insurance practice capabilities with professionals who are recognized leaders in their field. Hinshaw honored its commitment to the insurance industry by adding more than 50 such lawyers since that time. Hinshaw now boasts one of the nation's largest and most prestigious insurance practices with approximately 100 lawyers in offices throughout the United States and in London.

Scott Seaman is an eminent insurance and reinsurance lawyer who brings important experience to this vital role, having served as chairman of the national insurance litigation and counseling practice group at his prior firm. His treatise, Allocation of Losses in Complex Insurance Coverage Claims (4th Thomson Reuters 2015), addresses many of the important issues driving contemporary insurance and reinsurance disputes and has been cited by state and federal courts across the country. Mr. Seaman has a long track record of successfully representing companies before trial courts, appellate courts, and arbitration panels across the country in high-stakes matters, including cases and cessions involving general liability coverage (primary, umbrella and excess), professional liability coverage, first-party property coverage, bad faith and extra-contractual matters, fee disputes and facultative and treaty reinsurance contracts. He has served as national coverage counsel, as well as trial and appellate counsel. He also advises companies on emerging issues and a wide range of case-specific and portfolio issues. Mr. Seaman also handles international, professional liability, tort and product liability, and business and commercial matters.

Ron Kammer represents insurers nationally. He has been involved in many significant coverage disputes, including cases involving bad faith and unfair and deceptive trade practices, as well as coverage obligations for construction defect, pollution, trademark and patent infringement claims, as well as breach of policy conditions and warrants, business interruption, misrepresentation and fraud. He regularly advises insurance carriers on issues involving policy interpretation, claims handling practice and procedures and the drafting of insurance policy provisions. Mr. Kammer also practices in general civil litigation including commercial litigation and legal malpractice. He has tried cases and handled appeals involving bad faith, coverage under property, commercial general liability, excess and umbrella, professional lines, commercial and personal automobile, homeowners, fidelity bond and life insurance policies. Mr. Kammer is a fellow of the American College of Coverage and Extra-Contractual Lawyers and Past National Co-Chair of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association. Mr. Kammer also has served as an expert in both state and federal courts in legal malpractice, insurance coverage, bad faith and attorney fee disputes.

J. Richard Supple, Jr. — Professional Responsibility, Professional Liability & Risk Management Practice

J. Richard Supple Jr. represents law firms and lawyers in professional ethics-related matters and transactions, including disciplinary and legal malpractice cases, partnership and corporate formations and dissolutions, fee disputes, disqualification and sanctions motions, and risk management advising and internal investigations. As a former prosecutor, defense counsel and expert, Mr. Supple has tried, arbitrated and litigated numerous disciplinary cases and other ethics-related matters in federal and state courts; argued appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the New York Court of Appeals, and intermediate appellate courts; and has successfully mediated cases throughout the United States. He earned his J.D. (1989) from the University of Wisconsin Law School and his B.A. (1985), magna cum laude, from Duke University.