Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP is pleased to welcome new partners Fritz Huszagh and  Josh Kantrow to the firm’s Chicago office.

Fritz Huszagh has over 31 years of experience handling insurance matters, counseling both insurers and policyholders, as well as litigating in state and federal courts throughout the country.  His experience includes casualty and property contracts of nearly every type, written for individuals, professionals, governmental entities, public/private corporations, associations and partnerships. In addition, Mr. Huszagh has represented clients in accident, disability, health and life insurance matters.  He has been involved in numerous reinsurance arbitrations, either as counsel or as an arbitrator/umpire.  Finally, Mr. Huszagh has counseled clients in connection with policy drafting and regulatory matters, and has consulted for attorneys in need of insurance expertise.

Prior to practicing law, Mr. Huszagh worked for an insurer as an underwriter of several professional liability lines. Thereafter, he became a claims manager and then Vice President of claims for an insurance company as well as an MGA with professional and excess books of busines.

Mr. Huszagh has written extensively about insurance, authoring numerous chapters in Illinois legal handbooks pertaining to insurance, reinsurance, interpleader, and insurance of products liability.  He has also spoken at, and published for, various local and national groups, including the ABA, Illinois State Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association, DRI, ARIAS and BCBSA.

Mr. Huszagh received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbel, is recognized as a Leading Lawyer in Illinois, and has been named annually since 2004 to the Super Lawyer listing with particular expertise in insurance related matters.

Josh M. Kantrow’s practice focuses on litigation involving professional liability defense and coverage, computers/the Internet/technology, bad faith, and punitive damages. He is a savvy negotiator and is often retained by clients in crisis management situations to litigate complex, high-exposure cases throughout the United States. Mr. Kantrow is a Martindale-Hubbell AV-rated lawyer, and was selected as a “Chicago Top Rated Lawyer” for 2012, based on peer review ratings.  He is currently an Illinois “Leading Lawyer” for Commercial Litigation, Insurance Law and Professional Liability.

Mr. Kantrow approaches legal issues from his clients’ point of view. Several years ago, he was seconded to the London insurance market, where he worked directly with Lloyd’s claims and underwriting personnel in handling complex litigation cases. He also served for three years as outside counsel for a national Chicago-based manufacturer, managing claims and providing transactional advice.

Mr. Kantrow has been a featured speaker at approximately 35 seminars in the U.S. and Europe. His recent presentations have focused on data security, cyber liability issues, E-discovery, and crisis management litigation strategies. He has been interviewed by Business Insurance and Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, and has published articles on cyber liability, and litigation tactics and strategy. In February, Mr. Kantrow will speak at a seminar at Israel’s Technion University (an incubator for many of Israel’s successful startups) on cyber liability issues.

Established in 1979, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP is a national, full-service law firm with more than 820 attorneys and 25 offices, in 12 states from coast-to-coast. In 2012, Lewis Brisbois was ranked #1 in the nation by American Lawyer Media in its Diversity Scorecard. We are ranked #1 in the State of California for diversity in a recent survey published by California Lawyer magazine. Lewis Brisbois has consistently ranked in the top 50 of these diversity surveys since 2005.