It is a tremendous honor to write my first letter to the membership as President of the American College of Coverage Counsel. As we begin the College’s 15th anniversary year, I do so with humility and deep appreciation for the extraordinary work that has brought us to this point and with real excitement for all that lies ahead.

I want to begin by thanking our outgoing President, Steve Pate, for his leadership, vision, and friendship over the past year. Steve’s presidency was marked by thoughtful innovation and a clear commitment to strengthening the College for the future. Among his many contributions, two stand out in particular. First, the University of Connecticut Insurance Law Review annual edition dedicated to the ACCC reflects the growing stature and influence of the College in the broader insurance law community. Second, Steve launched the Silver Tsunami task force, an important effort to address the so-called “greying” of the College by identifying highly qualified, practitioners who should be on our radar as future Fellows. Steve has helped ensure that the College both honors its traditions and continues to evolve, and I am grateful for his service and his unwavering friendship.

I also want to reflect briefly on our outstanding Annual Conference at the InterContinental Hotel in Chicago. By every measure, it was a tremendous success. We had the highest number of attendees in the College’s history, with nearly 50 percent of our membership in attendance — a remarkable level of participation and one that is highly unusual for legal organizations of our type. We also welcomed the largest class of new Fellows in our history, with 37 new Fellows, and it was genuinely gratifying to see so many talented lawyers join our ranks. The energy, engagement, and collegiality throughout the conference were unmistakable.

Special thanks are due to Program Co-Chairs Karen Dixon and Michael Levine, who assembled a robust and informative program that reflected both the depth and the diversity of our practice. And, as always, one of the great strengths of the College was on full display: the opportunity to connect and reconnect with friends and colleagues from both sides of the “v.”. That spirit of collegiality, professionalism, mutual respect, and shared commitment to the development of insurance law remains one of the defining characteristics of the ACCC.

As we look ahead to this anniversary year, I want to share a few of the initiatives and priorities that will help shape the year to come.

One exciting area of focus is our outreach to the College’s Honorary Fellows. As I briefly mentioned at the business luncheon, the College is fortunate to have a distinguished group of insurance law professors among our Honorary Fellows, all of whom are doing important work and research on cutting-edge insurance and extra-contractual issues. Over the past several months, we conducted a number of brainstorming sessions with several of these professors to explore how the College can support their efforts and, in turn, how our membership can benefit from their scholarship and insights.

As a result of those discussions, the Board has agreed to provide a yearly research grant of $20,000 to support the research and publication of the resulting scholarly paper by one of our Honorary Fellows. An open invitation for requests for proposals is currently being fine-tuned and will be disseminated in the near term. Our goal is to have the selected paper published and presented to our membership either at the Annual Conference or at that year’s Law Symposium. We also intend, of course, to publish the paper in the UConn Law Review annual edition dedicated to the College. This is an exciting opportunity to strengthen the connection between the College and the world of academics while delivering meaningful value to our members.

Another important event on the horizon is the 2026 Insurance Law Symposium, which will be held at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday, November 6, 2026. I want to extend special thanks to our Honorary Fellow, Professor Harold (“Hal”) Weston, who was instrumental in securing Georgia State as this year’s host. We are also fortunate to have John Bonnie and Larry Bracken serving as this year’s Co-Chairs. John and Larry are developing a wide-ranging program designed to give law students a broader understanding of coverage practice and the many career paths available in our field. I encourage all of you to be on the lookout for their request for proposals and to consider presenting at or attending this year’s law symposium.

I also want to briefly highlight the already launched ACCC Job Board, which went live on March 5, 2026. The Job Board has already generated overwhelming support among our Honorary Fellows, particularly law professors who see it as a valuable resource for students and emerging practitioners interested in insurance coverage. To help expand awareness and usage, I have asked Tyler Gerking and Alex Potente to lead a task force focused on increasing engagement with the Job Board. We recognize that not every firm recruits in this manner, but for those that do, we greatly appreciate your support in using the College’s platform. This initiative can become an important tool for connecting talented lawyers with meaningful opportunities in our field.

We also will continue the important work begun under Steve’s leadership through the Silver Tsunami task force. As many of you know, this ad hoc committee was created to address the demographic challenges facing the College by identifying younger coverage lawyers who may not yet satisfy the 15 year/70 percent requirement for admission, but who are clearly on the path toward Fellowship. The purpose is to ensure that, when the time comes, the Membership Committee already has these rising practitioners on its radar. We have decided to continue this important work, and I have asked Gaby Reicheimer and James Carter, two of our newer Fellows, to lead the task force. Their perspective and energy will be invaluable as we continue cultivating the next generation of ACCC Fellows.

Finally, we are renewing our efforts to increase the College’s visibility and value as a resource to major insurance publications, including outlets such as Business Insurance and Law360, when they are looking for insight and commentary on insurance law issues. We have already begun outreach to some of these publications and are making a concerted effort to ensure that the ACCC remains top of mind when editors and reporters seek informed perspectives on insurance coverage and extra-contractual law. This is an important part of enhancing the College’s profile and reinforcing the depth of expertise that exists within our membership.

As we celebrate the College’s first 15 years, we should also look ahead with confidence and ambition. The ACCC has become an extraordinary organization because of the commitment, talent, scholarship, and collegiality of its members. I welcome your thoughts and ideas for how we can continue to build on that foundation. I encourage each of you to stay engaged, get involved, and help us make the next 15 years — and beyond — as successful, productive, engaging, and fun as the first 15.

With appreciation,

Koorosh Talieh
President
American College of Coverage Counsel