2025 Insurance Law Institute

Mr. William Curtis Anderson Related Seminars and Products

Downey & Cleveland LLP

Curtis concentrates his litigation practice in the areas of automobile liability, medical malpractice, and premises liability. He brings to the table more than 30 years of trial experience. During his career, he has served as lead counsel in more than 150 jury trials, securing outstanding results for his clients.

Curtis is frequently called on by one of the largest auto insurers in the country to handle large exposure cases in courts across Georgia, such as those involving catastrophic injury and wrongful death. He also serves as trial counsel for the largest healthcare system in metropolitan Atlanta in slip-and-fall and medical malpractice actions.

Curtis also has extensive experience with claims involving allegations of extra-contractual exposure and Georgia law related settlement offers, and he is frequently relied upon by clients and colleagues for advice in these areas. Along with his defense practice, Curtis is requested by colleagues across the aisle to assist at trial on plaintiff’s cases.

In addition to his trial work, Curtis has handled dozens of appeals before the Georgia Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Georgia.

Along with his litigation practice, Curtis has been a featured speaker at Continuing Legal Education seminars, most recently on the topics of UM law and the defense of a personal injury case.

Mr. Brian C. McCarthy Related Seminars and Products

Waldon Adelman Castilla McNamara & Prout

Mr. McCarthy joined the firm in 2018 and practices in the areas of insurance defense, insurance coverage, motor vehicle liability, and civil/commercial litigation.  Mr. McCarthy earned a Bachelors in Arts in psychology from the University of Notre Dame.  He also earned a Master in Science in sports administration, a Master of Business Administration, and a Juris Doctor from Georgia State University.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. McCarthy was a solo practitioner for 14 years developing a general civil litigation practice representing both individuals and small businesses.  During this time, Mr. McCarthy gained a wealth of experience across a wide array of litigation matters.  From 2010 to 2014, Mr. McCarthy was named a Rising Star and for every year since 2016, Mr. McCarthy has been named a Super Lawyer by his peers in Atlanta Magazine.

Before embarking on building his own law practice, Mr. McCarthy enjoyed a career in sports administration and special event management.  During this time Mr. McCarthy enjoyed working with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, Goodwill Games, Special Olympics, U.S.A. Team Handball, NBC 2000 Sydney, and the Atlanta Falcons.

Mr. McCarthy resides in Smyrna, GA, with his wife, Amy, and their four children.  In his spare time, Mr. McCarthy enjoys coaching his children’s basketball teams, traveling with Amy, cooking just about anything on his Big Green Egg, and cheering for all things Irish.

Mr. Varad Rajeev Dabke Related Seminars and Products

Hall Booth Smith PC

Varad Dabke is an Associate in Hall Booth Smith’s Atlanta office where he focuses his practice on construction, general liability, premises liability, and transportation matters.

Varad earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia, and there he was a member of the Moot Court and Mock Trial teams and on the Managing Board of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law. He also competed in several national advocacy competitions and routinely placed in elimination and final rounds. Upon graduation, he was inducted into the Order of Barristers, an honorary organization which provides national recognition for individuals who have excelled in advocacy and service to their law schools. 

Joshua Shelley Related Seminars and Products

Accident Reconstructionist

S-E-A Limited

Mr. Shelley performs accident reconstructions, biomechanical and mechanical investigations, analyses, testing, and research. He performs evaluations of premise incidents, workplace incidents, product failures, and safety devices with the goal of injury and/or accident reconstruction, determination of injury, incident causation, and injury mitigation.Mr. Shelley is a technical consultant in the area of crash reconstruction involving passenger vehicles, light and heavy commercial vehicles, motorcycles, heavy equipment, off-road equipment, and pedestrians. This includes event data recorder (“black box”) imaging and analysis, vehicle component failure analysis, and vehicle dynamics testing and modeling.

Mr. Shelley earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has received certification in FARO 3D scanner operation and processing, is a licensed small-unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) pilot, and has received certification in event data recorder imaging of passenger vehicles and light and heavy commercial vehicles. Mr. Shelley is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and the American Society of Biomechanics (ASB).

Mr. Joseph Alan Kaiser Related Seminars and Products

Groth Makarenko Kaiser & Eidex LLC

Joe completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Missouri, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1999.  He then continued his studies at Mizzou earning his Juris Doctor in 2002.  After practicing briefly with a small firm in St. Louis, Missouri, he began his legal career in earnest as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney (the equivalent of an Assistant District Attorney in Georgia) in St. Louis County Missouri.  In that role, he handled felony and misdemeanor cases for over 9 years and gained valuable trial experience.

In 2012, Joe and his wife relocated to the Atlanta area and he joined the Atlanta staff counsel office for one of the largest insurance companies in the country.  He furthered his litigation experience in that role and gained extensive first-chair trial civil jury experience.  In May, 2018 Joe joined Groth, Makarenko, Kaiser & Eidex where he currently serves as the firm's managing partner.

Joe’s practice focuses on auto, premises and general liability defense as well as insurance coverage. He is admitted to practice before all state courts in Georgia and Missouri, as well as the United States District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia and the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.  Joe is a member of the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association, the Atlanta Claims Association, CLM, DRI and the Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the State Bar of Georgia.  Additionally, he holds an "AV" peer-reviewed rating from Martindale Hubbell and has been recognized by Super Lawyers.  

Joe and his wife Kimberly live in Johns Creek, Georgia with their two children Vivian and Jack.

Mr. Sean Lombardy Hynes Related Seminars and Products

Downey & Cleveland LLP

Sean defends individuals, businesses, and companies in lawsuits involving automobile accidents, premises liability, slip-and-falls, food safety, and first-party claims.

With more than 25 years of litigation experience, Sean is often called upon clients to represent them in high exposure cases, and he regularly defends individuals and businesses in cases involving allegations of serious personal injury and wrongful death. Sean has served as lead counsel in more than 80 jury trials throughout Georgia, both at the state and federal level.

As an attorney, he has mediated more than 500 cases. In addition to his trial practice, Sean was lead counsel in numerous reported appellate cases, including Zaldivar v. Prickett, 297 Ga. 589 (2015) (construing the apportionment statute, O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33); Newstrom v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., 343 Ga. App. 576 (2017) (finding no valid UM claim in choice-of-law issue involving California policy and Georgia accident); and Colvard v. Mosley, 270 Ga. App. 104 (2004) (restricting the scope of chiropractic practice).

Sean also regularly speaks at continuing legal education seminars, including ICLE’s Annual Insurance Law Institute (2023, 2019); the 51st GDLA Annual Meeting (2018); ICLE’s 34th Annual Insurance Law Institute (2015); ICLE’s 32nd Annual Insurance Law Institute (2013).

Sean has also presented and chaired ICLE’s Defense of a Personal Injury Claim in 2019 (Chair); 2017 (Chair); 2016 (Chair); 2015 (Chair), 2014 (Chair); 2013 (Chair); 2012 (Chair), and 2011. Sean has presented as a guest lecturer on jury selection at the Georgia State College of Law trial practice seminar for many years.

A native of Atlanta, Sean graduated from the University of Georgia and the University of Georgia School of Law. He joined Downey & Cleveland, LLP in 1998.

Hon. Kenneth Bryant Hodges III Related Seminars and Products

Judge

Georgia Court of Appeals

Kenneth (Ken) Bryant Hodges, III was elected to the Court of Appeals by the citizens of Georgia in 2018, winning every county in the state with wide bipartisan support in a contested election for a rare open seat on the Court. Judge Hodges took office on Jan. 1, 2019. With deep experience in diverse practice areas, Judge Hodges has served as a prosecutor, defended criminal cases, and been on both sides of a dispute in civil matters. He has been a court appointed receiver and a mediator. Judge Hodges is applying this experience on the bench to uphold the rule of law and ensure justice for all.

Judge Hodges was born and raised in Albany, GA. He graduated from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA, and earned his B.A. from Emory University in Political Science and Sociology with a minor in English in 1988. While at the University of Georgia Law School, he participated in a clinical program with a public defender and was sworn in under the Third Year Student Practice Act to try cases. He earned his J.D. from UGA Law in 1991 and set out to become a litigator. After working with a litigation firm in Atlanta, he returned to Albany as an Assistant District Attorney.

Judge Hodges was elected District Attorney of the Dougherty Judicial Circuit in 1996 at the age of 30. Within the first two years, he cleared out a backlog of eight death penalty cases and took them to trial. He formed trial teams which effectively ended unnecessary delays in moving cases forward, and focused on laws and programs to better protect children in the county. This included a child prosecution unit, a child advocacy center, a truancy program to target unauthorized school absences, and he also established a sexual assault unit. In his second term, he was named District Attorney of the Year for the State of Georgia. During his 12 years as District Attorney, Ken was committed to managing an efficient office, which operated under budget every year. He was elected President of the DA’s Association and also served as Chairman of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council; he was appointed by Governor Roy Barnes as Chairman of the Legal Loan Forgiveness Task Force and as a member of the Certainty in Sentencing Commission.

In 2008, he returned to private practice, working in transactional law and then litigation. In 2015, Ken started his own law firm, Ken Hodges Law, based in Albany and Atlanta with a focus on commercial litigation. Judge Hodges was elected President of the State Bar of Georgia (2018-2019), the first judge to lead the organization in its history. He currently serves on the State Bar’s Office of General Counsel Oversight Committee, is Chairman of the Advisory Board for Truist-Albany, and is Vice-Chairman of the Albany-Dougherty Airport Commission. Ken also serves on the Board of Advisors of University of Georgia’s State Botanical Garden and the Board of Directors of the Southwest Georgia Legal Self-Help Center, a non-profit that works to improve access to justice for low-income people in the region. Ken is a member of the Atlanta Rotary Club, the Emory Board of Visitors, and is a member and past-President of the Dougherty County Bar Association.

Judge Hodges has published articles in various legal and main stream media outlets, he has been a legal commentator on local and national television and radio programs, and has lectured at every law school in Georgia. He is a frequent presenter at legal education courses for practicing attorneys, and teaches classes for law enforcement personnel across the state. He has been named a Legal Elite, a Super Lawyer, and has earned the highest possible rankings with AVVO and Martindale-Hubbell, the preeminent attorney rating organization. He is a past Trustee and graduate of Leadership Georgia, a graduate of Leadership Albany, past Secretary and board member of The Urban League of Greater Atlanta, past President of the Artesian City Sertoma Club, former member of the Albany Rotary Club, past Chairman of the Easter Seals of Southwest Georgia, past Chairman of the Southwest Georgia Chiefs and Sheriffs Association, past board member of the Albany Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and has served on the boards of the American Heart Association and the Albany Civil Rights Institute. Ken was named a “40 under 40” by Georgia Trend.

As an attorney, he was admitted to practice with the United States Supreme Court, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Northern and Middle Federal District Courts of Georgia, the Georgia Supreme Court, and the Georgia Court of Appeals. He is a Master with the Bleckly Inn of Court and the W. Louis Sands American Inn of Court, and is a Fellow with the Lawyer’s Foundation of Georgia. Judge Hodges has been widely recognized for his legal and civic accomplishments during his more than 27 years as a practicing attorney, including as the recipient of the State Bar’s Commitment to Equality Award, the Justice Benham Award for Community Service, and The Eagle Award from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council for his work on behalf of crime victims.

Ken and his wife, Melissa, married in 2004 and have two children, Margaret and Jack, and a field spaniel, Buzzy. They are parishioners at St. Teresa’s Catholic Church in Albany and remain active in their community. The family cherishes time together and enjoy being active, whether it’s time spent in the beautiful southwest Georgia outdoors or exploring the state, visiting friends and family. An avid pilot, Judge Hodges is commerical, instrument, and multi-engine rated and enjoys being up in the air, like his father and grandfather, a Naval aviator, before him.

Anand B. Joshi MD Related Seminars and Products

Physician

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation – Emory Healthcare

Anand B. Joshi MD, MHA is pleased to return to his native Georgia to join the Emory Spine Center. He has extensively trained in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and has subspecialty, fellowship training in image-guided spinal interventions. Dr. Joshi’s practice focuses on reducing back pain and disability through non-surgical, conservative and rehabilitative treatments, as well as collaborating with your healthcare team to achieve the best result. He has deep experience in performing spinal injections, including epidurals, nerve root blocks and radiofrequency ablations. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Joshi trains the next generation of doctors in his role as the Associate Program Director of the Emory’s accredited Interventional Spine & Musculoskeletal Medicine Fellowship.

Prior to joining Emory, Dr. Joshi practiced at the Duke Spine Center for nearly 10 years. While there, he was the Head of the Section of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and had designed Duke’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation educational curriculum for doctors in-training. Dr. Joshi has authored over 20 research publications, including book chapters and has been recognized by the International Pain and Spine Intervention Society with prestigious research awards. Outside of work, Dr. Joshi spends time with his family including wife and two young boys.

Ms. Ashley Lynn Yagla Related Seminars and Products

Waldon Adelman Castilla Hiestand & Prout

Ms. Yagla joined the firm in 2018 and specializes in the areas of civil litigation and insurance defense. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Yagla practiced civil litigation, corporate litigation, and insurance defense in Marietta, Georgia and worked as a superior court law clerk for the Piedmont Judicial Circuit.

Ms. Yagla graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law in 2016. While in law school, she received the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers Outstanding Student Award.  Ms. Yagla earned her B.A. in Economics and Preprofessional Studies from the University of Notre Dame in 2013. In her spare time, she enjoys watching Notre Dame football, cheering on the Pittsburgh professional sports teams, running, and cooking.

Mrs. Laura Johnson Bailey Related Seminars and Products

The Mabra Firm

Laura completed her undergraduate education at the University of Alabama, where she was awarded the Criminal Justice Chairperson’s Award of Merit.  While attending law school, Laura earned a certificate for distinguished pro bono service as a pro bono law clerk to the Honorable Judge Kathleen F. Dekker of the Second Judicial Circuit of Florida.  She also earned her certificate in comparative international law through the University of Oxford in England before graduating from the Florida State University College of Law in 2005.

Laura is a litigator with 19 years of practice in Florida and Georgia, focusing on personal injury and insurance coverage matters.  She spent the first 12 years of her career on defense, and for the last 7 years she has represented plaintiffs.  Laura has tried more than 90 civil jury trials throughout the State of Georgia, and has been brought in as a Georgia personal automobile insurance coverage expert in litigation pending in other states, such as California and Michigan.

Laura has taught continuing education for both attorneys and claims professionals in the areas of tort law, insurance law, civil procedure, and best practices.  She has multiple published appellate wins, including matters of first impression in Georgia.  She currently works as the Director of Litigation for the Mabra Firm, LLC, where her primary duties include handling all in-house litigation, evaluating pre-suit claims for litigation, and creating best practices protocols for file handling to ensure firm-wide compliance with current legal and ethical regulations.

In her spare time, Laura enjoys spending time with friends and family, and supporting local rescues, such as Friends to the Forlorn Pitbull Rescue, and Canine Pet Rescue.