MCS Associates is a nationally recognized consulting group that has provided financial, operations and regulatory/compliance consulting services nationwide to financial institutions, insurance companies and regulatory agencies as well as real estate and financial services organizations for over 30 years.

Expert Witness and Litigation Consulting are a primary focus of our services. We undertake expert witness assignments throughout the United States and our clients include several hundred leading law firms around the country, working on behalf of both plaintiff and defendant financial institutions, borrowers, depositors, investors, developers, insurance companies and their insured, securities/insurance/real estate brokers/agents, regulators and government agencies, and individuals.

Together with MCS Associates’ specialized resources in banking, financial services and real estate, we also draw on key strategic alliances in insurance, economics, academia and the securities industry to meet a wide range of expert witness needs. Our litigation experts include experienced bankers, lenders, consultants, regulators, managers, brokers & agents in insurance, real estate, and securities; insurance claims and underwriting managers; economists, accountants, appraisers, real estate analysts, and academics.

Areas of Expertise Include:

Gerry Katz is an Expert Witness and Disability Insurance Claim Consultant with more than 40 years experience in the disability insurance arena. He helped a major insurance carrier design their entire portfolio of disability insurance products. Mr. Katz is the 1997 recipient of the Harold R. Gordon Memorial Award for the "Health Insurance Industry Person of the Year," granted by the National Association of Health Underwriters.

Donald J. Brayer is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), a Registered Professional Liability Underwriter (RPLU), an Associate in Claims, an Associate in Reinsurance (ARe), a Construction Risk Insurance Specialist (CRIS) and a Management Liability Insurance Specialist (MLIS). He also has an MBA in management and finance. Mr. Brayer has served as a litigation consultant, expert witness and arbitrator. He has served both plaintiffs and defendants addressing the activities of insurers and agent/brokers.

Areas of Expertise:

Underwriting

Risk evaluation

Agents & Brokers Duties

Managing General Agents

Policy design and interpretation

Application design

Custom and Practice

Pricing

Program underwriting

Reinsurance

Portfolio transfers

Investigation

Search for coverage

Evaluation

Communication with policyholders

Communication with reinsurers

Settlement

Auditing

Insurance Expert Network, LLC (IEN) is a network which includes over 200 highly qualified, reliable Insurance Experts with Litigation Management, Insurance Industry, and Expert Witness experience. Staffed by Insurance Industry Professionals, they easily discern requisite skills necessary to properly and fully support the Client. IEN is the only referral service providing insurance experts exclusively.

IEN provides experts for both plaintiffs and defendants

The experts in IEN are dedicated to their critical role in litigation, whether it be educating counsel on nuances of insurance, assisting attorneys in determining the merit of a case, testing potential evidence or testifying in a deposition or trial.

IEN provides in-depth knowledge of the Insurance Industry and maintains a listing of over 120 Specialized Insurance Areas. The following is a sample of these areas:

1. There is no charge for referrals.
2. Generally, a nationwide search and subsequent referral can be completed within 48 hours.
3. To assist the attorney with the selection process, IEN provides a case-specific statement of qualification from each potential expert.
4. IEN personnel are highly experienced and knowledgeable about insurance.

Jim Leatzow has 36 years of "hands-on" practical, property/casualty insurance agency experience. Leatzow has literally worn "every hat there is to wear in the P/C insurance business.

He provides expert & arbitration services nationally & internationally with no charge for travel time. He is articulate, efficient & equally comfortable within the U.S. & in foreign venues.

His experience includes:

Brian E. Gagan has over 45 years of experience in Insurance Underwriting, Marketing, Brokerage and Consulting for corporations and government.

His Consultation and Expert Witness Services are in the area of Insurance Litigation, including broker/agent standard of care, coverage interpretation (property and casualty coverages), construction defect, disputed premiums (dividends and retrospective rating adjustments), duty to defend, lost policies, and rescission due to misrepresentation.

Mr. Gagan has served as an Expert Witness in over 50 cases on property and casualty insurance matters, with deposition and trial experience for plaintiff and defense.

Expertise:

Richard Mintzer Associates, LLC serves as both Insurance Industry Expert Witnesses and Consultants. They offer their services nationally. Based on their experience, they place special emphasis on agency / company disputes, professional responsibility issues, insurance practice and standards, building product failure, (construction defects, and environmental coverage's.defense only.)

Richard Mintzer has thirty years experience as a General Agent for several of the leading Property and Casualty Insurers in the U.S as well as overseas, which qualifies him as an expert on most insurance issues. He was the Director of Insurance Education for ten years at the Community College of Aurora until he resigned in September 2002.

Areas of Expertise:

Steve Adkins, CPCU, ARM, AIM has over 42 yrs experience in property & casualty insurance: underwriting management, retail agent & broker, risk management, consultant & expert witness.

Specialties: Property \ casualty coverage analysis, industry stdrds, coverage disputes, bad faith, insurable interest, UM/UIM.

Credentials:

• American Institute - Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter (1978)
• American Institute - Associate in Management (1992)
• American Institute - Associate in Risk Management (1995)
• Ohio Department of Insurance - Resident Agent Property & Casualty (1992)

Van Hedges, CPCU, ChFC, CLU, CRM, CIC, AAI is currently President of Southern Insurance Consulting, where he Assists Insurance Agencies with Evaluations and Planning. He also provides expert testimony and litigation support. In 2000, he joined the University of Mississippi faculty as Adjunct Professor of Insurance and has taught Risk Management and Insurance and Commercial Property Insurance and Risk Management.

Mr. Hedges has served as a speaker and panel member for numerous insurance industry groups and has taught the IIAM Agents’ Errors & Omissions Seminar. He has testified before the Mississippi Department of Insurance and before both the Mississippi Senate and House Insurance Committees.

Areas of Expertise:

Thomas H. Veitch, J.D., CLU, CPCU, CIC, has been engaged in the practice of law since 1973. His total experience in the Insurance Business exceeds 40 years and encompasses experience in Claims Adjusting, Underwriting, Sales and Field Management Positions, Insurance Defense Work, Agency Consultation in Mergers / Acquisitions and Valuations, Mediation, Expert Witness / Consulting, and similar Insurance Law matters.

Areas of Focus:

Bob Underdown is a certified insurance expert witness providing jury-friendly insurance expert testimony across the US. A polished professional, Bob has more than 20 years experience in both private and public risk management with leading organizations. Knowledgeable and personable, his industry experience includes claims manager with a third-party claims administrator (TPA) and supervisor with an insurance company. His recent cases include standard of care for: captive agents, insurance brokers, insurance company claims handling, self-insured’s claims reporting and TPA standards.



See Website for additional information including: case list, publications and CV.

Expertise: