People & Places

The Insurance Council of Texas elected James Langford as chairman of its Board of Directors effective Jan. 1, 2006.

Langford is the assistant vice president of compliance, regulatory and governmental affairs, and training at the Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Companies in Waco. Langford started his career with the Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Companies in 1969, as a management trainee in policy services. He rose through the ranks eventually becoming vice president of operations prior to his current position.

Dorothy Langley, vice president and corporate counsel for Unitrin Property and Casualty Insurance Group in Jacksonville, Fla., was elected vice chairman. Craig Sparks, president of Union Standard Insurance Company in Irving, was elected secretary. Jo Betsy Norton, Texas regional counsel for Allstate Insurance Company in Austin, was elected treasurer.

Richard Mayer, assistant vice president of Commercial Lines at the Republic Group of Companies in Dallas, will serve as immediate past chairman.

The other members of the ICT board of directors are as follows:

Chubb Group of Insurance Companies: Gerard Butler, Dallas; CNA Insurance Group: Jim Harms, Dallas; Farmers Insurance Group: Frank Galitski, Austin; Liberty Mutual Insurance Company: David Radakovich, Irving; SAFECO: Tony Gonzales, Richardson; Travelers Property Casualty Insurance Company: Dennis Devlin, Houston; United Fire Group: Richard B. Swain, Galveston; and USAA: Steven George, San Antonio.

James Drawert with the Republic Group, Dallas, also serves on the board as an advisory director.

Robin Stough, president and chief executive officer of Dallas-based Pacific Wholesale Insurance Brokers announced that Brett Kilburn, who joined the firm in 2004 as senior underwriter/broker, was named assistant vice president.

Stough also reported that PWIB, part of Insurance Specialty Group, has opened a branch office in San Antonio, Texas.

Staffing the new office are Candace Duke, vice president and branch manager, Kenneth Duke, assistant vice president, and Garnet Blakeman, associate broker. All three most recently were associated with other leading wholesalers in the Southwest and have developed extensive contacts among independent agents in this area.

PWIB’s new San Antonio office is located at 1380 Pantheon Way, Suite 390, San Antonio, Texas 78232. The phone number is (210) 861-6360.

Michael E. Myers was elected president of Southwest Insurance Agency, a wholly owned subsidiary of SWS Group Inc., a Dallas-based financial services holding company.

A 34-year veteran of the insurance industry, Myers has served as executive vice president of Southwest Insurance Agency for the past five years.

Myers is a former president of the Texas Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (TAIFA) and was the first president of that group to be associated with a New York Stock Exchange securities firm. He is a member and past president of the Fort Worth Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and a member of the TAIFA Political Action Committee.

Dennis J. Devlin, regional vice president of the Travelers Property and Casualty Insurance Company, has assumed the chairmanship of the Texas Committee on Insurance Fraud. Devlin replaces Craig Sparks, of Union Standard Insurance Co., who stepped down after serving two years as the Committee’s founding chairman.

The 79th session of the Texas Legislature passed three bills aimed at improving the fight against insurance fraud. HB 2388 made it mandatory for companies to report all cases of insurance fraud to the Texas Department of Insurance. HB 3376 strengthened the state’s money laundering statute and extended the statute of limitation, while SB 781 addressed a criminal’s culpable mental state. The Texas Committee on Insurance Fraud supported all three bills.

The Texas Committee on Insurance Fraud was formed two years ago as an initial agreement between the Insurance Council of Texas and the Texas Department of Insurance to bring the insurance industry and the state together in helping to lower insurance costs through fraud fighting efforts. The Committee’s membership now consists of both property and casualty insurers and life/health insurers as well as state agencies, consumer groups and various district attorneys’ offices.

U.S. Risk Brokers reported two new additions to its Houston office. Paul S. Case joined as vice president and Ruth E. Gould was added as a senior broker.

Case has an extensive property background after serving 24 years at Marsh where he was last a senior vice president and Houston Property Placement Center manager. He will be responsible for brokering a book of property business and is expected to greatly expand the property facilities available to retail agents serviced by the Brokerage Division.

Gould will be responsible for producing and underwriting a book of health care business. She has over 10 years’ experience in health care professional liability with a local MGA and also brings 10 years of underwriting and marketing experience with AIG.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. named M. Michele Burns executive vice president starting March 1, 2006, and chief financial officer no later than March 31, 2006. Burns succeeds Sandra S. Wijnberg, who announced in August that she plans to resign from the company.

Burns has been executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief restructuring officer of Mirant since 2004.

To submit information for People, e-mail ijtexas@insurancejournal.com.