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Board of Directors
LONGSHORE CLAIMS ASSOCIATION
2024 OFFICERS ELECT
President – Stacy Franz (1/1/19 – present)
Ms. Franz joined Homeport Insurance Company in Portland, Oregon in February of 2009 and is a Longshore Claims Adjuster for the Columbia River Region.
Ms. Franz earned her Paralegal associate degree in May of 2003 and worked in that capacity for 6 years in the areas of real property, estate planning, domestic relations, litigation, personal injury, and bankruptcy. During that time, she served as the Oregon Paralegal Association’s (OPA) Associate Representative, Advertising Chair, Secretary, and Public Relations Chair.
Her prior work experience includes Free Lance Investigations & Process Serving, Inc. and as a pharmacy technician for 3 ½ years. Her prior LCA involvement includes: LCA Secretary from July 2017 – 12/31/2018.
Vice President – Earl Burak (9/5/19 – present)
Mr. Burak joined The American Equity Underwriters, Inc. in 2011. He serves as Claims Supervisor. Prior to joining AEU, he worked for a third-party administrator for over ten years, a large insurance carrier and an investigation company. Earl received the Meritorious Service Award for Excellence in Customer Service. He received his bachelor’s degree in criminal law from Glassboro State College.
Secretary – Jamie Babcock, Esq. (1/1/19 – present)
Mr. Babcock is an attorney and a sole practitioner with the Law Office of James Babcock, LLC located in Lake Oswego, Oregon. His practice focuses on matters relating to the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act and its extensions and he’s been an active member of the LCA serving as a speaker at several LCA events.
Mr. Babcock’s education includes a BA from Whitman College, cum laude and Juris Doctor from Lewis and Clark Law School, summa cum laude – valedictorian.
Treasurer – Volunteer Needed from California
Special Projects Officer – Eric Richardson (1/1/19 – present)
Mr. Richardson has been a Client Services Director for Gallagher Bassett since 2017. His 30+ year career includes service as Chief of the Policy, Regulations & Procedures Branch, Division of Longshore & Harbor Workers’ Compensation, and Director of the OWCP Long Beach District Office. While with the OWCP, he received two Secretary of Labor Exceptional Achievement Awards, for co-founding their mediation program, and design of their performance metrics.
Mr. Richardson also had a distinguished career in the U.S. Army, retiring in 2007 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, last serving as Executive Officer for the 176th Medical Group in Garden Grove, California.
Legal Advisor – William Brooks (2018 – present)
Mr. Brooks is an attorney with offices in Long Beach, California, specializing in maritime insurance defense, including matters arising under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (and various extensions), State of California workers’ compensation law, and federal/state OSHA regulations.
LCA Webmaster – Volunteer Needed
LCA Membership Chair – Noah Jaffe (2/14/23 – present)
Mr. Jaffe joined Nicoll Black & Feig in 2012. His practice focuses on a broad range of areas including commercial, admiralty and maritime litigation, claims arising under the United States Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act and appeals in state and federal court. He has tried cases in state court and before the Office of Administrative Law Judges at the Department of Labor. He also currently serves as the Chair of the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association’s (WDTL) Amicus Committee, overseeing the committee’s amicus curiae efforts on behalf of the defense bar, and he has drafted and contributed several impactful and successful amicus curiae briefs in matters before the Washington State Supreme Court.
Before joining Nicoll Black & Feig, he served for two years as law clerk to Washington Court of Appeals Division I Judge Marlin Appelwick. He obtained his J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law, where he served as an extern for U.S. District Court Judge John C. Coughenour, studied comparative law in Rome, Italy, and served on the Board of the Minority Law Students’ Association. He received his undergraduate degree from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
LCA Regional Vice Presidents
(2/14/23 – present) Ms. Dana Chesnut, Texas – President, Contract Claims Services, Inc.
(12/14/18 – present) Mr. Ryan LeVeque, Pacific Northwest – Claims Supervisor, American Equity Underwriters, Inc.
(12/18/18 – present) Ms. Stacey Wyckoff-Arreola, Southern California – Assistant Vice President - Claims, Signal Mutual
LCA Board Members
(2/13/20 – present) Mr. Warren Abell – Claims Manager
Mr. Abell has been a Claims Manager for Homeport Insurance Company since 1993. He has more than 37 years of insurance claims adjusting and management specializing in Longshore Act Claims and concurrent State jurisdictions of Alaska and California. He earned his B.A. in Business Administration, Finance from Washington State University in 1982. He manages claims occurring in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, and in the Port of Eureka, California.
He served as Treasurer of the Northwest Longshore Claims Association (NWLAA) from 2009 until 2018, when merged into the Longshore Claims Association (LCA).
His prior LCA involvement includes: LCA Vice President from 2011 – 12/31/2012 and LCA President from 1/1/2013 – 12/31/2018.
(4/3/17 – present) Ms. Dana Chesnut – President, Contract Claims Services, Inc.
Ms. Chesnut is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington (B.A., Business Management, 1994) and has over 20 years of experience primarily with claims that fall under the Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentalities Act, an extension of the Longshore Act.
Ms. Chesnut began her career in the field of Insurance in Underwriting before joining a division of the Thomas Howell Group, that later became Contract Claims Services, Inc. (CCSI), in 1995 as a Workers’ Compensation Claims Adjuster. CCSI is a privately owned company specializing in workers’ compensation risk management program administration. Over the next several years, her roles included Claims Supervisor, Claims Manager, and Vice President prior to assuming her current role as President in January 2014.
Mr. Tony Flores (& LCA Golf Chair) – Executive Head of Work Health & Safety, International Transportation Service, LLC
Mr. Flores first stepped onto the Southern California Waterfront in 1981, when he worked as a causal Longshoreman while on Christmas and Spring break(s) from college. After college, he worked as a police officer (credited with saving the lives of two fellow police officers) for a few years then returned to the waterfront as vessel superintendent, and then became a claims examiner handling Federal LHWCA for a self-insured stevedore. After working in Federal and State workers’ compensation for several years, he became a Senior Safety Manager at ITS, moved to LBCT for another few years in the same capacity and again returned to ITS in his current position as the Executive Head of Work Health & Safety.
He’s been married to his wife Cheryl for over 37 years, they have one daughter (one son in law) and two sons (two daughters in law) who are all married and have been blessed with six grandchildren. He’s been in a band (classic and soft Rock) with his two brothers since 1984 wherein he plays drums, percussion, guitar, and some ukulele.
(4/3/17 – present) Ms. Candice Gainer – Head of Claims Operations – West Coast & DBA, Signal Mutual
Ms. Gainer has over 20 years’ experience handling Defense Base Act and Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act Claims, and over 25 years supervisory experience in various industries. She joined Signal Mutual in 2022 to serve as Practice Leader for their newly formed GovCon Unit, and recently took over managing Signal’s West Coast Operations under the USL&H program.
Prior to joining Signal, she worked for JAG International as their Global Claim Director and spent over a decade handling and managing federal claims at AIG. She rounded out her tenure at AIG as the Multinational Account Manager for their Defense Base Act program, where she provided internal and external training, underwriting assistance, and managed the company’s medical evacuation program.
Ms. Gainer graduated Summa Cum Laude from LeTourneau University where she holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration.
Ms. Louise Holleran – Workers’ Compensation Manager, General Dynamics NASSCO, Inc. (Bio coming soon)
(2/13/20 – present) Mr. Jeff Knipper – MSCC, CMSP
Mr. Knipper is a managing partner of MAPS Medical. He has over 30 years of workers’ compensation claims experience. His focus for the last 15 years has been Medicare compliance related to settlement of workers’ compensation claim. He has completed Medicare Set-Aside Analyses (MSAs) on over 1000 workers’ compensation claims and assisted clients with the CMS review process on over 500 settlements. He is a frequent speaker and writer on Medicare compliance issues. He has held the Medicare Set-Aside Certified Consultant (MSCC) credential since 2009. He has held the Certified Medicare Secondary Payer (CMSP) professional designation since 2011. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of South Alabama where he also played baseball. He loves a round of golf, ballgame, or poker game with friends and family.
(2010 – present ) Mr. Erik Lassow – Head of Claims - Technical, Signal Management Services, LLC
Mr. Lassow has worked in various roles on behalf of Signal Mutual for 30 years. In his current role as the Head of Claims - Technical he is responsible for the oversight and resolution of the Mutual’s most challenging and high exposure claims. This is primarily handled through his leadership of the Complex Claims Unit and the Claims Oversight Committee for which he reports on the Mutual’s claim performance to the to the Chief Executive Officer and the executive leadership team.
During his career in the Claims Management group, Mr. Lassow spent 13 years in California where he opened the Long Beach, CA and created a new regional claims team serving the Mutual’s West Coast members. In 2017, he returned to Connecticut to become the Vice President Claims and direct the CA and CT claims management teams. Prior to joining Signal, he worked in pharmacy as a technician and accounts receivable clerk working with third party plans, Medicaid, and Medicare.
Mr. Lassow graduated from the University of Connecticut with a BS in Business/Marketing. He subsequently obtained a certificate from the American Educational Institute for completion of Federal Workers’ Compensation Law course an Associate in Claims (AIC) from the Insurance Institutes of America. He additionally self-funded post graduate course work at Southern Connecticut State University’s Masters of Public program in health education and promotion. Mr. Lassow has been a Board member of the Longshore Claims Association since 2010.
(4/3/17 – present) Mr. Ryan LeVeque – Claims Supervisor, American Equity Underwriters, Inc.
Before joining AEU in 2013, Mr. LeVeque worked for 15 years as a Senior Claims Examiner handling California, Alaska and Oregon state workers’ compensation, USL&H and Jones Act claims. Mr. LeVeque received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon. He resides in Seattle, Washington.
Ms. Lisa Loeber – Sr. Vice President, Sage Adjusting, LLC (Bio coming soon)
(2/13/20 – present) Mr. Eric Richardson – Sr. Account Manager, Carrier Practice, Gallagher Bassett
Mr. Richardson has been a Client Services Director for Gallagher Bassett since 2017. His 30+ year career includes service as Chief of the Policy, Regulations & Procedures Branch, Division of Longshore & Harbor Workers’ Compensation, and Director of the OWCP Long Beach District Office. While with the OWCP, he received two Secretary of Labor Exceptional Achievement Awards, for co-founding their mediation program, and design of their performance metrics.
Mr. Richardson also had a distinguished career in the U.S. Army, retiring in 2007 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, last serving as Executive Officer for the 176th Medical Group in Garden Grove, California.
(2/13/20 – present) Mr. Will Scheffler – SVP, Director of Claims, American Equity Underwriters, Inc.
Mr. Scheffler is a Senior Vice President for American Equity Underwriters, Inc. and serves as the Director of Claims. He started his career in claims in 1993 working for a regional TPA. He began working for AEU in April 1998 when the ALMA program was in its infancy. Since inception, AEU has grown to serve over 1900 current members and the claims department employs over 50 individuals. In his role, Mr. Scheffler oversees all claims operations. On his direct team is the SVP – Director of Subrogation and SIU, SVP – Director of Medical Management, VP – Claims Adjudication, VP – Claims Administration and VP – Claims Technology.
Mr. Scheffler graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in Speech Communications. He has achieved both the CPCU (Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters) and AIC (Associate in Claims) designations from The Institutes, formerly the Insurance Institute of America. He is a licensed adjuster in LA, AL, and ME and a licensed Qualified Manager in California.
He serves on the Advisory Board for Loyola's Annual Longshore Conference, which is held in New Orleans, LA each Spring. He is a current board member of the Longshore Claims Association. He serves on the Client Advisory Board for Origami Risk's Core Division.
(2/13/20 – present) Ms. Stacey Wyckoff-Arreola – Assistant Vice President - Claims, Signal Mutual (Bio coming soon)
Ms. Wyckoff-Arreola is a seasoned veteran with the responsibility of managing complex claims for Signal on the West Coast. She has an extensive background in Longshore and California State Act claims having
