Dan Cotter answers questions from Karen Pollitt and Scott Whitaker regarding the pandemic’s impact on the world of insurance. They discuss challenges, lessons learned, and what has been most surprising among the different industry groups. Listen to find out the answers to such questions as when will all of this be over? and which state reacted best?

Featuring: Dan Cotter, Attorney, Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC

Hosted by: Karen Pollitt, Assistant Vice President, Product Development Accident & Health Division, Axis Capital
Scott Whitaker, Director of Product Design, Perr & Knight

Daniel A. Cotter is Attorney and Counselor at Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC. Dan focuses his practices in a variety of areas of corporate law and litigation, primarily on insurance law, including complex business disputes and counseling, employment law, corporate transactions, corporate governance and compliance, and cybersecurity and privacy law. His clients benefit from his diverse professional experience, which – in addition to his years serving as trusted outside counsel – includes positions as a corporate accountant and an in-house attorney.  He spent almost 17 years in-house at insurance organizations, where he focused on insurance, regulatory, technology, IT, compliance, and transactional matters. Dan served as President of The Chicago Bar Association for the 2014-2015 bar year and is former Chair of The Young Lawyers Section of The CBA.

Dan was an adjunct professor at The John Marshall Law School, and has taught Insurance Law, Accounting for Lawyers, and SCOTUS Judicial Biography. Dan graduated summa cum laude from The John Marshall Law School and received his B.A. in Accounting from Monmouth College, magna cum laude. Dan is a frequent writer and presenter on various substantive topics, including technology and privacy, and in 2019, his book, “The Chief Justices,” was published.

Karen Pollitt is a seasoned insurance compliance and product professional. She is currently Director, Product Development at AXIS Insurance Company, in the accident and health division.
Karen’s experience includes insurance regulatory affairs, managing state filings & statutory reporting, product development and contract drafting, advertising review, legislative/regulatory review and research and complaint handling. Her career began with the John Hancock Companies as a NASD Registered Representative, then with Combined International Insurance as a Group Contract Analyst. She was the Lead Compliance Analyst at Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company for 17 ½ years before becoming a Senior Contract & Compliance Consultant for 5 years working with Coulter & Associates, Inc.

Karen has served the AICP in numerous capacities including:

• National Executive Committee and Board of Directors:
  Vice President 9/2019 – 10/2021
  Regional Director – 9/2017 to 9/2019
  Chapter Relations Chair – 9/2018 to 9/2019
  Secretary 9/2013 – 9/2015
• Regional Chapter Board
  Mid-Atlantic Chapter Past-President: 2009 – 2010
  Mid-Atlantic Chapter President: 2008 – 2009
  Mid-Atlantic Chapter Secretary: 2007-2008
  Mid-Atlantic Chapter Sponsorship Chair 2017 to 2019
• National Committee Work: Marketing; Membership; Government Relations; Canadian Initiative

Karen has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from Thomas Jefferson University. She has earned the compliance designations of Associate, Insurance Regulatory Compliance, Associate Compliance Professional and Certified Compliance Professional

Scott Whitaker is the Director of Product Design with Perr&Knight. In this position, he is responsible for management of the Product Design practice area. Scott oversees the services provided by the Property & Casualty and Accident & Health product design teams including product development, policy form content reviews, compliance reviews, competitor form comparisons and regulatory compliance research. He also leads the work associated with compliance testing and operational gap analysis services.

Scott joined Perr&Knight in 2020 bringing more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry. Just prior to joining Perr&Knight, he was the Regulatory Compliance Manager and Assistant Secretary at EMC Insurance Companies. Before EMC, Scott spent 20 plus years at Nationwide Insurance in Claims and Compliance. He also worked at Marsh/Mercer as an Operations Manager for Life and Health Employee Benefits.

Scott’s expertise and professionalism is evidenced by his position on the Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals (“AICP”) Board of Directors. He is a frequently requested speaker at AICP annual conferences and E-Days. He also serves a Director on the Insurance Regulatory Examiners Society (“IRES”) Foundation’s Board. Scott holds his Market Conduct Management (“MCM”) designation and attended Wright State University where he studied Business Administration.