The Insurance Federation of New York has set its first 2006 event for March 10, when Superintendent Mills will be featured at the federations Breakfast With at 8:00 A.M., with presentation at 8:30 A.M. Location: AIGs Training Center at 70 Pine Street. Of course, youve got to be a member in good standing and reserve pronto to be a part of it. Call 914-966-3180 extension 110 for information.

FTIs Insurance Man

Richard Hershmans doing forensic and litigation consulting at FTI as senior managing director. Rich is a serious guy who weve known since his days at PSM. Naturally, hell focus on FTIs insurance sector activity. Good luck, Rich.

Cleaning Up the Island

Gotta love the claims gang at NYSIF. Theyre nabbing fakers at a fantastic pace. Three Long Island posers are being prosecuted by the Nassau County District Attorneys Criminal Frauds Bureau for defrauding the fund by being gainfully employed while collecting workers compensation benefits and not truthfully reporting their employment status. The cases were developed by NYSIFs Division of Confidential Investigations in cooperation with District Attorney Denis Dillon, the New York State Insurance Department, and the New York State Workers Compensation Board Inspector General.

Solomon Sorto, of Westbury, who is alleged to have worked as a building maintenance worker earning $22,000 to $29,000 annually was cleaning up as he collected workers compensation benefits of $130 per week for a work-related back injury. Sorto failed to report his employment to NYSIF, collecting $47,554 to which he was not entitled. Broom time.

Ellen Fennessy, of West Babylon, who filed a workers compensation claim in 1984 for injuries suffered while working at a nursing home and has gotten transfusions of $125 weekly in benefits since 1991. Six times, Fennessy attested to not working while employed at a meat market and a fuel oil company, allegedly collecting $17,625 in fraudulent benefits. Fuel-ish, for sure.

Dion Lonigro, of Farmingdale, claimed to have injured his back and knee while employed by a beverage company. Classified as temporarily partially disabled in 2003, Lonigro was authorized to receive $300 per week in benefits. He could have worked and been paid up to $150 per week while maintaining full benefits. While repeatedly denying that he was working, Lonigro was employed as a painter making approximately $330 per week. Color him nailed.

NYSIFs Douglas Hayden said These particular cases point up the widespread problem of workers compensation fraud in that they cut across a wide variety of industries in which workers, some classified as permanently disabled, filed claims for work-related injuries and then at some point returned to work while continuing to collect benefits illegally. This is the type of double-dipping that drives up the cost of workers compensation insurance for everybody. The total tab to which we all contribute! $332,000 " Nice work, guys.

ARIAS US and More

Lovely, lively, and a leaders leader outline Mary LoPattos acclaimed legal career and her warm and personable character. Shes the chairperson of ARIAS US, has been managing partner of LeBoeufs Washington D.C. powerhouse and is now joining Chadbourne and Parke as a partner in the firms D.C. practice. Not long ago, she graduated from Princeton and earned a J.D. from a Catholic University. Since then, she has accrued 20 years of experience handling insurance and reinsurance matters with particular expertise in reinsurance disputes, including arbitrations subject to Bermuda arbitration law. She has arbitrated disputes relating to, among other things, allocation of environmental claims, insolvency and run-off matters, MGA and broker negligence, life reinsurance, variable annuity products, financial reinsurance, surety bonds, and reinsurance accounting. She lectures and publishes frequently on reinsurance and dispute resolution and heads the leading U.S. association in insurance and reinsurance arbitration (ARIAS US) in her spare time! Best, Mary.