Amy E. Bilton, Esq., is a shareholder, workers’ compensation defense trial attorney, and Medicare Secondary Payer professional at the Chicago law firm of Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. She has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1998 and has her Medicare Secondary Payer Consultant certification (MSCC) through the International Commission on Health Care Certification and Certified Medicare Secondary Payer Fellow (CMSP-F) certification.
Ms. Bilton is a frequent lecturer in workers’ compensation and all aspects of Medicare Secondary Payer compliance, as well as in the intersection of the opioid epidemic with both areas of law. She serves on the boards of: the National Alliance of Medicare Set-Aside Professionals, for which she is the immediate past President, Executive Board member, and co-chair of the Annual Educational Conference committee; the International Commission on Healthcare Certification, for which she serves as the chair of the Board of Commissioners for the Medicare Set-Aside Consultant Certified (MSCC) certification; and the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission Medical Fee Advisory Board. She is also a member of the Chicago Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association, American Bar Association, California Coalition on Workers’ Compensation, DRI and the National Council of Self-Insureds.
John V. Cattie, Jr. is one of the nation’s most well-respected Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP)legal scholars. Cattie received his BA from the University of North Carolina and his JD/MBA from Villanova University.
Cattie has personally reviewed or overseen the review of over 12,000 distinct fact patterns for Medicare Set-Aside (MSA) purposes. Federal and state court opinions such as Smith v. Marine Terminals of Arkansas, Tye v. Upper Valley Medical Center, and Doe v. Company Xcite his analysis favorably. In each case, his client’s future medical exposure was minimized or extinguished based on how Cattie analyzed the MSA issue. In the Doe case, that difference amounted to a 90% or almost $900,000 reduction in future medical exposure for his client, the injury victim.The DoeCourt stated the following in its opinion: “The Court finds that Mr. Cattie’s analysis is more credible [than his opponent’s] in the liability context.” To date, Cattie has been able to save his clients over $30 million in MSA exposure.
Cattie actively participates in many organizations nationwide, including NAMSAP, RIMS, CLM and DRI. For DRI, Cattie recently concluded a four (4) year term as the Chair of DRI’s Medicare Secondary Payer Task Force. During that time, he served as Executive Editor for DRI’s Defense Practitioner’s Guide to Medicare Secondary Payer Issues. He also served as a co-author for the American Bar Association (ABA) treatise“What Are … Medicare and Medicaid Secondary Payer Laws?”
Cattieis the ManagingMember of Cattie, P.L.L.C. His law firm is dedicated to minimizing/extinguishing a client’s future medical exposure under the MSP Act. He focuses his law practice on MSA issues, providing legal opinions regarding MSA requirements, a client’s future medical exposure under the MSP Act and proper MSA funding.His firm also handles Medicare conditional payments, writes traditional medically based MSAs, and medical cost projections among other services. For more information, please see www.cattielaw.com.
Robert J. Finley, Esq. Civil Litigation and Medicare Compliance Counsel
Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLC
Robert Finley's national civil defense litigation and trial practice focuses on defending businesses and insurers in high value and complex matters involving specialized tort, employment, andhealthcare issues. Robert has a wealth of experience in Medicaid third party liability and Medicare secondary payer compliance matters. He offers elite counsel to primary payers and other interested parties under auto, property/casualty, and no-fault policies, as well as workers' compensation insurance plans involving: conditional payment resolution; Medicare Part C and D recovery claims; future medical settlement considerations; Section 111 reporting compliance/monetary penalties; statutory private causes of action; and related regulatory matters. Robertserves Flagship Services Group asitsChief Legal Consultanton Medicare compliance for insurersandregularly contributes to Flagship’sblog. Beforepursuing alawcareer,Robert worked in the sports radio industry producingand reporting onmajor spectator events, including the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, Kentucky Derby, U.S. Open Golf Championship, NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, and 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.While attending DePaul University College of Law, Robert was selectedfor legalstudiesabroad at University College Dublin (Ireland), where he concentrated in comparative and European Union law studies and volunteered with a Dublin-based law firm.
Rafael has over 35 years of experience in the auto, liability, no-fault, and workers’ compensation insurance industries. He has written extensively on liability, workers’ compensation, social security, and Medicare/Medicaid issues. He has also taught these subject matters at several law schools and medical schools in Florida. He lectures throughout the country on all aspects of Medicare and Medicaid compliance, including Mandatory Insurer Reporting, Conditional Payment Resolution, Medicare Set Asides, MSA Post Settlement Administration, Medicaid Third Party Lien Reimbursement, and Special Needs Trusts.
Over the last 30 years, Rafael has been recognized by City of Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storm for his work on behalf of the Hispanic community in Tampa and Hillsborough County. He was awarded the Governors Appreciation Award by Governors Bob Martinez and Jeb Bush for his work in improving Florida’s workers compensation system. He was awarded the Governors Leadership Award by Governor Charlie Crist for his work in improving Florida’s Medicaid system. He was awarded Florida’s Distinguished Service Award by US Senator Mel Martinez for his work and advocacy to improve the US Social Security disability system. He has also been awarded the Presidential National Service Award by President George W. Bush for his work on improving the Medicare Secondary Payer system through the addition of the Mandatory Insurer Reporting process, and by President Back Obama for his work and support of the Affordable Care Act.
Recently, WorkCompCentral CEO Kristen Chavez presented Rafael with the Magna Comp Laude Award with Great Honor for his willingness to share his knowledge, experience, and scholastic work with the country’s workers compensation community. Also RISE CEO Ellen Wofford honored Rafael with the RISE Distinguished Service Award for his many years of leadership, scholarship, and professionalism in educating the thousands of professionals who have attended his numerous Medicare and Medicaid programs. And International Association of Industrial Accidents Boards and Commissions President Evelyn McGill awarded Rafael its President’s Award for his leadership and service to the international workers compensation community.
Rafael is active on social media. He is owner and manager of several LinkedIn groups, including Medicare and Medicaid Compliance (8,500 members), Medicare Mandatory Reporting, Medicare Conditional Payments, Medicare Set Aside Allocations, Medicare Set Aside Administration (3,500 members), Florida Workers Compensation (2,500 members), Social Security Benefits (1,500 members), Hispanic Issues and Demographics (500 members), and Affordable Care Act Compliance (250 members). Rafael is also active on Twitter with 2,000 followers and Facebook with 2,000 friends.
Born in Havana, Cuba, Rafael and his family escaped communism to Madrid, Spain, and ultimate immigrated to the US. He owes everything he has achieved to his mother, Miriam Lera. Her love and sacrifice have allowed him to live in freedom, succeed and prosper. Rafael graduated from Miami Senior High School, received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida and his Jurisprudence Doctorate degree from the Florida State University. He lives in Lithia, Florida with the love of his life, his wife Lisa, and his greatest pride, his two sons, Alex and Andres.
Mr. Lazarus is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Synergy Settlement Services. Synergy offers healthcare lien resolution, Medicare secondary payer compliance services, pooled trust services, settlement asset management services and structured settlements. He is also the managing partner and founder of the Special Needs Law Firm; a Florida law firm that provides legal services related to public benefit preservation, liens and Medicare Secondary Payer compliance. Jason received his B.A. from the University of Central Florida and his J.D. with high honors from Florida State University. He received his LLM in Elder Law with Distinction from Stetson University College of Law. Mr. Lazarus is a Medicare Set Aside Consultant (MSCC) certified by the International Commission on Health Care Certification. His written work has been cited, as authoritative on Medicare compliance, by the Supreme Court of Florida and the United States Southern District of Florida.
Brian MacAllister, CMSP-F
Senior Medicare Unit Manager, Conditional Payment Unit,
Brian MacAllister, CMSP-F Senior Medicare Unit Manager, Conditional Payment Unit,
Liberty Mutual Insurance
During his twenty years with Liberty Mutual, Brian has held roles in both the Liability and Workers Compensation organizations, with expertise in complex high exposure claims. His roles have included Complex Technical Claims Specialist, Manager of a Critical Strategies Unit, and Sr. Medicare Unit Manager. In his current role, Brian is responsible for Conditional Payment compliance. In addition, he provides settlement consultation, and develops training. Brian has a degree in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University, Associate in Claims (AIC), Medicare-Set-Aside Consultant Certified (MSCC), Certified Medicare Secondary Payer Professional Fellow (CMSP-F) and is a member of the Medicare Secondary Payer Network (MSPN).
Charles Medlin Founder and Chief Operations Officer
LitPRO
Charles is an experienced attorney and legal operations executive with a background in complex settlement administration, lien resolution, legal process outsourcing, business consulting and sales transformation.
Most recently, Charles served as a Director of Legal and Compliance outsourcing at Conduent, where he consulted with healthcare sector clients on digital and workforce-enabled strategies for legal and compliance operations. Charles was responsible for retaining and consulting with in-house legal departments from pharmaceutical clients and large hospital systems.
Prior to joining Conduent, Charles spent 7 years as a subject matter expert in lien resolution and complex settlement administration at a leading legal process outsourcing company. In that role, Charles served in a number of senior level positions overseeing operational, product development and business development. He was instrumental in obtaining, operationalizing and implementing a number of high profile projects for complex mass tort and environmental litigations.
Charles holds a BA from Appalachian State University, a JD from the Charlotte School of Law, and a law license for the State of North Carolina.
Shannon is a partner in the firm’s Charlotte office and represents a variety of carriers and employers, from small businesses to large Fortune 500 companies, in the defense of workers’ compensation claims. Her clients include reputable retail and insurance companies, as well as professional sports teams throughout the country. As a Medicare Set-Aside Certified Consultant (MSCC), her practice also focuses heavily on Medicare Secondary Payer Act compliance. Shannon is an active member of the North Carolina State Bar, North Carolina Bar Association, North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, Mecklenburg County Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, and the National Medicare Secondary Payer Network. Shannon is AV peer-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and was selected to North Carolina’s 2010 Rising Stars list in Workers’ Compensation, published nationwide in Super Lawyers Magazines®. She was also listed as one of Business Leader’s 2011 Movers & Shakers. Additionally, Shannon was recognized in the 2014 listing in The Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers.
Andrea Morton currently serves as the Vice President of Operations at LitPRO, LLC. Andrea is an accomplished operations leader with a specialization in process analysis and innovation. Previously, Andrea served in a management role a patient support services company focused on the strategic design and delivery of programs to improve patient access to pharmaceutical products. Before that, Andrea held several leadership positions in her 10 years with a leading mass tort settlement administration and lien resolution company with a heavy focus on Medicare Secondary Payer Compliance.
Logan has worked with Allan Koba Compliance Solution since its inception in October 2020. His work centers around MSP issues that arise in workers’ compensation, general liability, and no-fault matters. He focuses mainly on the preparation of Medicare Set-Asides, Section 111 Mandatory Insurer Reporting compliance, Conditional Payment issues- including disputes, appeals, post-treasury debt resolution, and Medicare Part C/D conditional payment issues in light of the PAID Act, as well as conducting and managing various compliance audits for an array of clients. Logan has previously worked as an associate for national and regional law firms, concentrating on MSP issues for national employers and insurers. While in law school, he interned at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania supporting matters related to the False Claims Act, Stark Law, and Anti-Kickback regulations, as well as at the University of Pittsburgh’s Elder Law Clinic assisting with estate and Medicaid planning.
Since the inception of her career, Heather Schwartz Sanderson, Esq. has been passionately devoted to providing simple and straightforward Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) legal strategy, compliance solutions, as well as MSP education to the insurance and legal communities.
Heather has 12+ years of dedicated experience in MSP compliance, and has often been referred to as one of the foremost experts in the country on MSP. Prior to launching Sanderson Firm PLLC, Heather served as Chief Legal Officer for Franco Signor for 6 years, a leading national MSP services provider, until its ultimate acquisition by ISO CP in 2020. Prior to her tenure as CLO at Franco Signor, Heather previously served as both Corporate Counsel for Optum as well as Staff Counsel for ExamWorks Compliance Solutions.
Over the last decade, Heather has served as an MSP expert both in Federal class action litigation as well as in litigated matters at the state level. Heather is an award-winning blogger and national speaker on MSP compliance, and a recipient of a 2018 Business Insurance Break Out Award. Heather serves an Ambassador for the Women to Watch Foundation, a 501(c)(3) entity serving humanitarian initiatives for women. Heather has been an active proponent in Washington D.C. for MSP legislative reform since 2011 and is proud of the industry’s accomplishment of the passage of both SMART Act (2013) and PAID Act (2020).
Steve Shaw is an active claimants attorney who also serves as an expert for other claimants law firms on cases involving Medicare Secondary Payer compliance issues. He has practiced law in Washington State for over 18 years, and regularly teaches at continuing legal education seminars nationwide on topics like subrogation, litigation, and tort law. He is an instructor and fellow of the Certified Medicare Secondary Payer Professional (CMSP) certification, and editor of the Washington State Association for Justice’s Subrogation Deskbook.
Clayton Starnes is a founder of PRESERVE Settlements. PRESERVE’s unwavering mission is to provide best in class, white glove lien resolution, Medicare Set-Aside, and settlement fund administration services to purposefully PRESERVE settlement funds and future healthcare and other benefits through the negotiation, design, and implementation of efficient settlement programs in single-event and mast tort cases.
Clayton received his B.A. from TCU, cum laude, and his J.D. from Baylor Law School. He began his legal career as a plaintiff personal injury attorney and in 2010 fully transitioned into the settlement administration space. A renowned industry expert, Clayton has been a featured speaker at numerous trial lawyer associations and other professional organizations around the country in the complex areas of healthcare lien resolution, Medicare Secondary Payer compliance, government benefit preservation and settlement fund administration.
Some of Clayton’s national speaking invitations include HarrisMartin, National Business Institute, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, Pennsylvania Association for Justice, Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, Maryland Association for Justice, Nevada Justice Association, Idaho Trial Lawyers Association, Indiana Trial Lawyers Association, Kentucky Justice Association, San Antonio Trial Lawyers Association, Dallas Trial Lawyers Association, Lafayette Bar Association, Academy of New Orleans Trial Attorneys, East Texas Trial Lawyers Association, National Coalition of Motorcyclists, Hidalgo County Bar Association, Galveston County Ad Litem Seminar, Bucks County Bar Association, Association of Attorney-Mediators, Academy Rail Labor Attorneys, and numerous TrialSmith and other Webinars.
Clayton currently holds law licenses in the State of Texas and the District of Columbia.
Sylvius von Saucken Vice President. Strategy & Advisory Services
Epiq Global
Sylvius von Saucken is the Vice President of Epiq’s Advisory Services Group, currently focusing on its mass tort division. Mr. von Saucken leverages his more than 15 years’ experience to serve as a lead subject matter expert for clients and colleagues, overseeing that group’s counseling and risk management activities for the mass tort operations and client service teams. He regularly consults with clients about best practices, innovative approaches to lien resolution and payment complication challenges, and how to manage qualified settlement funds efficiently and cost-effectively. This role includes developing and overseeing principal preservation strategies and addressing tax reporting and other disbursement matters, as well as negotiating escrow-type agreements with financial institutions. Mr. von Saucken also plays a key role in the strategic and tactical guidance of Epiq’s mass tort business and growth.
Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Mr. von Saucken also works extensively on Epiq’s relationships with the United States Federal Government, including the Office of General Counsel, Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs and the Department of Justice. Currently, Mr. von Saucken: (a) serves as the Successor Trustee of the (BP) Medical Settlement Trust, which is the administration vehicle for the BP Oil Spill Medical Settlement established in In Re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, MDL No. 2179, involving over 250,000 claims, a Gulf Coast Outreach program, and hundreds of millions of dollars of payments over the past five years; (b) oversees Epiq’s administration of the Tronox, Inc. Tort Claims Trust, in In re Tronox Incorporated, et al., Case No. 09-10156 (Hon. Michael E. Wiles), an environmental remediation trust involving more than 40,000 claims and hundreds of millions of dollars; and (c) oversees Epiq’s administration of both fund administration and lien resolution activities in: (i) In re: National Football League Players’ Concussion Injury Litigation, MDL No. 2323, and (ii) Denhollander v. Michigan State University, Lead Case No.1-17-cv-29 (Hon. Gordon J. Quist), the nation’s first #MeToo settlement involving the survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of convicted felon, Dr. Lawrence Nassar.
Prior to joining Epiq, Mr. von Saucken practiced law in Cincinnati, Ohio for 14 years as a government benefits, income tax, estate, probate, trust and transfer tax attorney, who represented corporate and individual clients across the country. Mr. von Saucken is a seasoned trust attorney, who also served as a Receiver for the Boone Circuit (Kentucky) Court in Abbott v. Chesley, Civ. Action No. 05-CI0436 (Judges Crittenden, followed by Morris, presiding), where he oversaw and managed the primary assets subject to litigation arising from a diet drug mass tort settlement, including a horse farm in Lexington, Kentucky and two-time National Horse of the Year, Curlin. In June, 2016, in In Re: Amendments to Rule Regulating The Florida Bar 4-1.5 – Fees and Costs For Legal Services, (No. SC 16-104), Mr. von Saucken argued before the Florida Supreme Court on a proposed Florida Bar rule that would have impacted lien resolution protocols for attorneys in that state.
Mr. von Saucken holds a B.A. in Diplomacy / Foreign Affairs & Political Science from Miami University (OH) and a J.D. from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, where he has served as an adjunct professor, co-teaching courses in Federal Wealth Transfer Taxation and Estate Planning.
Mr. von Saucken is a past Board President of the Sister Cities Association of Greater Cincinnati (n/k/a Cincinnati USA Sister City Association), a non-profit organization responsible for managing citizenship diplomacy exchanges as part of mayor’s agreements between the citizens of Cincinnati and their respective Sister Cities (currently nine).
Mr. von Saucken was recognized by his peers as one of Ohio’s “Rising Stars” in Ohio Super Lawyers magazine in 2005, while engaged in private practice.
Ryan is a co-founder of MASSIVE and runs the Lien Resolution Program as Chief Operating Officer. Ryan specializes in Medicare, Medicaid, and ERISA compliance and lien resolution through his work with hundreds of different health insurance plans.
Ryan began his career as a personal injury attorney for Weiner & Associates, LLC in Chicago, IL. While there, he developed a lien resolution company to assist attorneys in resolving complex medical lien issues quickly and efficiently. Ryan has become an expert in systems organization and continuous improvement through building MASSIVE’s proprietary workflows and OCR systems. He combines this organizational skill with his lien resolution expertise to lead MASSIVE.
Ryan is often sought after to speak at legal industry events, and has presented lien resolution and ERISA topics to various professional organizations, including Mass Torts Made Perfect, Workers Injury Law Group (WILG), 360 Advocacy, Lorman Educational Services, and the National Business Institute. Ryan is currently a licensed attorney in Illinois and Washington D.C.
Ryan earned his B.A. in History at the University of Michigan and his J.D. at Chicago-Kent College of Law. Ryan worked as a photographer for the Michigan Daily newspaper during his time at the University of Michigan. These days, Ryan enjoys practicing yoga, cooking, watching sports, and traveling.
