ISBA Mutual in 20th year is force in liability field

Some said it couldn't be done

The minutes of the ISBA Assembly meeting on June 25, 1988, note briefly that President Donald C. Schiller included “the start-up of the captive insurance company” as one of the accomplishments of his year in office.

In the next paragraph, President-elect Jerome Mirza “presented an extensive report on the background of the formation of the captive insurance company” and asked Assembly members to help raise the capital to get it started.

A day earlier, Ronald Guild and Thomas A. Clancy had received Board of Governors Awards for their leadership of the Task Force on Professional Liability Insurance Program.

Commercial insurance firms scoffed at the concept of a lawyer-owned and operated professional liability carrier, and they held to their take-it-or-leave-it premium increases.

By August 1988, the ISBA Insurance Risk Retention Group had capitalized, its first policies were issued in November, and the presence of what was to become the ISBA Mutual Insurance Co. was first noticed within the industry. That was then.

This is now: ISBA Mutual’s president and CEO, Jon W. DeMoss, reported last month that the company wrote $16.5 million in premiums during 2007, and ended the year with assets of $55.8 million and a surplus of $23.6 million.

Better yet for its loyal member-insureds, ISBA Mutual paid dividends of 10 percent on the earned premiums of all of its policyholders for the third straight year.

As the ISBA captive quietly celebrates its 20th anniversary, another ISBA past president has stepped into the office of board chair – an honor that began with Schiller and continued with Mirza.

Chicago attorney Robert K. Downs took office in March at the conclusion of the tenure of Ole Bly Pace III of Sterling, and will serve until April 2009.

Other officers are First Vice President Leo J. Sullivan III of Waukegan, Second Vice President Irene F. Bahr of Wheaton, Third Vice President Jack C. Carey of Belleville, and Secretary-treasurer John B. Cashion of Chicago.

In his annual report, DeMoss noted that ISBA Mutual has renewed its commitment to co-sponsor FastCase, a free online legal research service for state bar association members, for the next two years (see story on this page).

He expressed his belief that FastCase “may contribute to the avoidance of claims while allowing ISBA members to better serve their clients and the public.”

DeMoss also announced that ISBA Mutual has begun a monthly e-mail loss prevention newsletter for policyholders. It is written by general counsel Joseph M. Marconi.

For information about the company’s professional liability insurance coverage, call (888) 473-4722. An application form may be downloaded from http://www.isbamutual.com.

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