"The wonderful thing about PLUS is that there is such a great support system--people at both the staff and volunteer level really are willing to provide help."
The Society's first female president focuses on
the PLUS Web site and education at the local level
"Thee mission of PLUS is to provide education to its members and I intend to continue the organization's strong efforts in that area," says incoming President Michelle Duffett, RPLU.
The Society's first female president, Duffett says that there are "two major areas on which I want to focus: (1) the continuing improvement of the Web site and (2) some real evaluation and positive change in providing education at the local level." PLUS is working with a consultant on the Web site to develop services that are of value to the membership. "We're considering a job bank, library type resources and other Internet offerings." In the area of local educational efforts, Duffett says that "we have great volunteers and are trying to find ways to improve our presence at the Chapter level."
"The wonderful thing about PLUS is that there is such a great support system--people at both the staff and volunteer level really are willing to provide help."
-- Michelle Duffett, PLUS President
However, she adds quickly that these are not the only areas where PLUS will be moving ahead. "We have many great things going on here, one of which is the development of computerized testing for RPLU. [See related article in this PLUS section.] This should improve interest in the test and will result in more sites where the test can be taken. I'm looking forward to having that up and running. We're also looking at expanding and revising text and test materials to focus on underwriting issues. Right now, the RPLU materials explain the technical issues but don't get into risk evaluation."
Another area is the symposiums on specialized issues. "We're looking at continuing and expanding the symposiums in the years ahead. We had our first medical malpractice symposium this year and our first symposium on IPO (initial public offerings) Cases and Laddering Claims. More than 300 people attended that symposium," Duffett reports.
The IPO symposium looked into one of the core issues in IPO cases which involves allegations that the underwriters of IPOs undertook a so-called "laddering" scheme by which certain institutional investors were required to make purchases of an issuer's stock in the aftermarket as a quid pro quo for getting an allocation of shares in the IPO. These purchases at progressively higher prices created the laddering effect in an artificially inflated aftermarket. Claims involving these schemes numbered in excess of 135 as of August 1 and continue to mount dramatically.
According to Duffett, the Society plans to continue providing ongoing symposia on various topics, as well as offering new symposia on emerging issues of importance to the professional liability industry. One of these topics is Cyber Liability.
Duffett says she is very pleased that the PLUS Board of Trustees found her capable of serving as president. "They are an excellent group of people and it's very flattering to have their support and encouragement."
She continues: "I don't have any grand plans for my tenure. PLUS has been really strong and has been moving forward thanks to the efforts of many volunteers and the staff headed up by Derek Hazeltine. The wonderful thing about PLUS is that there is such a great support system--people at both the staff and volunteer level really are willing to provide help."
Duffett, who served on the board prior to being elected president, continues that she enjoys the "mental challenge of being involved in running a nonprofit organization. It allows me to apply my skills in a different format." She concludes that "it has been a wonderful experience, getting to know people in other parts of the professional liability field. There really are a lot of bright, fun people in this business."
Duffett is co-owner of INSIGHT Insurance Services, Geneva, Illinois, a program administrator for architects and engineers, accountants and insurance agents programs. She began her insurance career in 1979 as an architects & engineers professional liability underwriter, an area for which she had a basic understanding, thanks to spending a few college years as an engineering major. Insurance training in liability programs added to her knowledge base and she was able to move into other non-medical professional liability areas. Duffett co-founded INSIGHT with Jim Romano in 1987. Duffett has a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Management from Northwestern University. *