For The Defense, November 2012 - DRI Today

DRI News
DRI Congratulates New Officers and Board Members
Last month at the DRI
Annual Meeting in New
Orleans, the organization
welcomed its new
leaders, including President
Mary Massaron
Ross of Plunkett Cooney
PC, in Bloomfield Hills,
Michigan. Ms. Massaron
Ross, just the second
woman to lead DRI,
takes the reins from Henry M. Sneath of Picadio Sneath Miller &
Norton, P.C., in Pittsburgh, who will continue his service, now as
immediate past president. J. Michael Weston of Lederer Weston
Craig PLC in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is now president- elect and John
Parker Sweeney of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC in
Baltimore rises to the office of first vice president. Joining
Mr. Weston and Mr. Sweeney on the track to the DRI presidency
will be Laura E. Proctor of LP Building Products in
Nashville, Tennessee, who was elected by the DRI Board
of Directors to serve as second vice president. In 2015, Ms.
Proctor will become the third woman president of DRI, and
the first in-house counsel to hold the office. Congratulations
are extended as well to new officer John E. Cuttino of Turner
Padget Graham & Laney PA in Columbia, South Carolina,
Mary Massaron Ross, Henry M. Sneath, J. Michael Weston, John Parker Sweeney, Laura E. Proctor and John E. Cuttino
who was selected to serve the organization as secretarytreasurer,
and to eight new members of the DRI Board of Directors.
In New Orleans, four individuals were elected by the
board to join them as national directors: Kathleen M. Guilfoyle
of Campbell Campbell Edwards & Conroy PC in Boston;
Jack B. “Skip” McCowan, Jr., of Gordon & Rees LLP in
San Francisco; William F. Ray of Watkins & Eager PLLC in
Jackson, Mississippi; and Scott Burnett Smith of Bradley
Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Huntsville, Alabama. In addition
to the national directors, four new regional directors
were elected earlier this year: Michael J. Leegan of Goldberg
Segalla LLP in Princeton, New Jersey (Atlantic Region);
Thomas R. Schultz of Schultz & Pogue LLP in Indianapolis
(North Central Region); C. Douglas Dooley of Leitner,
Williams, Dooley & Napolitan PLLC in Chattanooga, Tennessee
(Southern Region); and Mark J. Neal of the Neal Law Firm in Monroe,
Louisiana (Southwest Region). More coverage of the 2012 DRI
Annual Meeting will be published in the December 2012 issue of
For The Defense.
Kathleen M. Guilfoyle, Jack B. “Skip” McCowan, Jr., William F. Ray and Scott
Burnett Smith
Michael J. Leegan, Thomas R. Schultz, C. Douglas Dooley and Mark J. Neal
Members on the Move, from page 4
tion for Allegheny County and its environs.
Mr. Miller has served on the board
of ALT for the past eight years, and is honored
to lead the board of directors of this
important land trust non- profit organization
and to work closely with ALT’s new
executive director, Chris Beichner. Mr.
Miller’s service as board member and now
chair continues the firm’s long connection
with ALT; Anthony P. Picadio was one
of the founding members of ALT, having
guided the inception and early growth of
the organization.
David L. Taylor, formerly of Jennings,
Taylor, Wheeler & Haley in Carmel, Indiana,
has opened his own practice, the Taylor
Law Firm in Indianapolis. Mr. Taylor
will continue to focus his practice on insurance
coverage, insurance defense, environmental
law, and general litigation. Mr.
Taylor was recently named one of Indiana’s
Top Lawyers by the Wall Street Journal.
Kolesar & Leatham, one of Nevada’s
largest independent law firms, announces
that Scott R. Cook has joined the firm as a
shareholder focusing on civil litigation. Mr.
Cook’s expertise expands the depth of the
firm’s capabilities in complex civil litigation,
catastrophic injury, and representation of
medical professionals and institutions. Mr.
Cook brings more than 30 years of experience
to the firm. He is admitted and actively
practicing in Nevada, Arizona, Colorado,
Nebraska, and New Mexico.
Marge Motluck
For The Defense ■ November 2012 ■ 7