2024 D&O Symposium On-Demand

Heather is currently the Underwriting Manager of the Financial Lines team at W/R/B Underwriting. She joined in November 2014 as a Financial Lines Underwriter and was previously a Regional Underwriting Manager with Berkley Professional Liability in New York. She has been with the WR Berkley Corporation since 2008. Heather began her career in 2006 with American International Group in New York. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston University. 

Kimberly M. Melvin is a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Wiley Rein LLP, where she is a co-chair of the firm’s insurance practice. Ms. Melvin is also member of the PLUS Board of Trustees. She regularly counsels professional liability carriers on both coverage and underlying liability issues and has particular expertise in D&O and fiduciary liability insurance, insurance bankruptcy issues and the mediation of large, complex professional liability claims. Ms. Melvin has been listed by Chambers USA as one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" in Insurance since 2018. In 2013, Ms. Melvin was named to Business Insurance magazine's list of "Women to Watch."

Current Responsibilities 
Jack Flug is a veteran of the insurance industry with over 30 years of experience. As head of U.S. FINPRO claims, he advises and negotiates complex claim workouts on a broad range of Financial and Professional Liability lines, consulting with clients and colleagues around settlement strategies as well as coverage considerations attendant to transactional exposures. Jack’s longstanding relationships at the most senior level in the insurance marketplace, both on the underwriting and claims sides, enable him to provide valuable insight as to how disputes around coverage should be resolved. In addition, Jack leads our U.S. professions practice, providing consultation on placement strategy, construction of tailored endorsement language, and negotiations with senior underwriters and coverage counsel on behalf of our clients. 

Experience
Jack returned to Marsh in November 2008. He began his career in the claims department of American International Group (AIG) in 1985, and held several senior positions there in both underwriting and claims capacities. His career in the insurance brokerage arena has included four years as a managing director for Beecher Carlson and a previous tenure at Marsh, during which he led the New York operation and helped to pioneer the field of claims advocacy on such coverage lines as directors and officers liability, employment practices liability, ERISA/fiduciary liability, all forms of professional liability, crime/fidelity, and special risk. 

Education 
BA in sociology, Queens College
JD, Touro College School of Law 

Affiliations 
Frequent speaker at continuing education programs and other professional gatherings on topics of concern to the risk management community 
Author or co-author of numerous articles on insurance coverage

Justin Kudler is Vice President and Senior Claims Counsel in the Claims Advocacy Group at ARC Excess & Surplus, LLC.  Before joining ARC, Justin worked at AXA XL in Hartford, where he handled D&O, E&O, EPL, and other professional liability claims. 

He served as a Co-Chair of the PLUS D&O Symposium from 2020 to 2022 and is a Hartford PLUS Chapter Steering Committee Member, serving as Chair in 2020.  Justin has published articles on D&O insurance issues, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and other securities and class action issues.  He also has spoken at industry conferences on topics including claim handling, claim trends, insurance for financial institutions, insurance for agents and brokers, and sub-prime litigation.  In private law practice, Justin represented defendants and plaintiffs in securities and consumer class actions, as well as individuals in SEC investigations. 

Justin is a graduate of Harvard University, receiving his undergraduate degree cum laude in Government, and the University of Virginia School of Law, serving as Executive Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology. 

Jen is a Senior Vice President at CAC Specialty and serves as a claims advocate within its Legal and Claims Practice. With almost two decades of experience, Jen is a valued member of her team, focusing on complex insurance claims in the management, professional and transactional liability space, including directors and officers, errors and omissions, mergers & acquisitions, fiduciary liability, and employment practices liability.   

Prior to joining CAC Specialty, Jen worked as Senior Claim Counsel within the Financial Institutions group at CNA Financial Corporation and as a Claims Consultant in the Commercial Directors & Officers group at The Hartford, both in New York, NY.  During her time with those insurers, Jen handled claims through their full life cycles, analyzed insurance coverage under multiple types of insurance policies, negotiated complex multimillion dollar settlements, and collaborated with underwriters and business partners on risk analysis and policy wording. Jen also has significant experience as external and in-house counsel for several companies where she managed litigation and corporate work, as well insurance placement and risk management.    

Jen received her B.A. in Law and Society and a minor in Political Science from American University in Washington, D.C. She moved on to receive her J.D., cum laude, from New York Law School in 2004. Jen is admitted to practice law in New York, Connecticut, and Tennessee.