Management Team
Management Company Team Biographies
William Fishlinger is the chief executive officer of both Wright Risk Management Company, Inc. (WRM) and Wright Employee Services Company, L.L.C (WESCO). Mr. Fishlinger also is senior partner and president of the law firm of Congdon, Flaherty, O’Callaghan, Reid, Donlon, Travis & Fishlinger. As an attorney, he has been involved in the defense of many of the largest civil cases brought in New York. He also has been recognized for the creation of innovative and successful risk-financing vehicles, including NYMIR and NYSIR. Mr. Fishlinger has lectured extensively in the areas of general litigation, environmental law, medical malpractice, risk management and insurance. A graduate of St. John’s University School of Law and the State University of Maryland, he is admitted to practice law in both federal and New York State courts. Mr. Fishlinger also served in the United States Air Force.
Gerard Elicks is president of WRM and was the first president of the NYMIR division of WRM. He is an attorney specializing in insurance law and has extensive experience with workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment practices, and related insurance matters. Mr. Elicks represented claimants before the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board as a licensed representative from 1984 through 1988. A graduate of the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he received a B.A. in economics, he received his Juris Doctor from St. John’s University School of Law in 1987. He is admitted to practice law in New York.
Robert Lulley is president of the NYSIR Division of WRM as well as its chief underwriting officer. Mr. Lulley has more than 20 years of underwriting and marketing experience in the insurance industry. He chairs the Forms & Coverage Committee and is a member of the Large Claim and Litigation Management Committee. He has served as resident vice president for a regional insurance carrier and as a sales manager for Aetna Life & Casualty. Mr. Lulley received his B.A. in political science from LeMoyne College.
Richard Hsia is executive vice president and general counsel. He joined WRM in 1995, and previously was deputy superintendent of insurance for the State of New York. Mr. Hsia’s other experience also includes private practice with the Wall Street law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel, where he dealt with financial services, multinational commercial transactions, science and technology, and complex litigation. He was named a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar at Columbia Law School, which awarded his J.D. degree, and a Columbia University Seminars Associate on China/International Business. He received his B.A. from Columbia College. Admitted to the New York State Bar and federal district and appellate courts, he is a member of the Federal Bar Council and American Bar, New York County Lawyers, and New York State Bar Associations. In addition to his work at WRM, Mr. Hsia is a partner in the law firm of Congdon, Flaherty, O’Callaghan, Reid, Donlon, Travis & Fishlinger.
Robert Bambino, CPCU, is vice president of risk management and is responsible for the coordination of risk management projects for all WRM clients. He received his B.A. from Hofstra University in 1975 and his CPCU designation in 1988. Mr. Bambino also is an instructor at Hofstra University, where he teaches insurance risk management courses in the University College for Continuing Education. He has published articles on risk management and has spoken before numerous groups on risk management and other insurance-related topics. Mr. Bambino also has served as a consultant to the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, working on projects related to the CPCU program.
Paul Weinstein, AU, is vice president and director of NYSIR marketing and subscriber support. He is responsible for oversight of NYSIR’s marketing program statewide, and has a proven record of achieving new business growth and cultivating and maintaining long-term relationships with NYSIR subscribers. An expert in school insurance coverage, Mr. Weinstein joined WRM in 1991 and previously was underwriting director for NYSIR. He holds a New York State Brokers license and is certified as an Associate in Underwriting by the Insurance Institute of America. His 25 years of insurance experience have included underwriting and senior training positions with AIG and CIGNA. Mr. Weinstein is a graduate of the State University of New York at Oneonta.
Richard Calame is vice president and senior claims manager and supervises administration and handling of property and casualty claims, including determination of coverage, reserve setting, litigation management, claims disposition, managerial reporting and claims auditing. Mr. Calame also manages property, casualty and professional liability claims for NYSIR and NYMIR. Between them, those two programs include in excess of $40 million in reserves and process an average 3,000 claims each year. Mr. Calame is a graduate of St. John’s University and brings more than 25 years of claim management experience to his position.
Ronald Falcone, CPCU, is assistant vice president of claims for WRM and claims manager for NYSIR. He received his B.S. in business administration from SUNY Oswego and earned the CPCU designation. Mr. Falcone has more than 25 years of insurance experience, specializing in the management of property and casualty claims for both commercial and personal lines of business. He has had extensive experience with major insurers such as Royal Insurance, American International and Continental Insurance Company, and is responsible for reserve posture, file direction and ultimate closing strategy.
Lisa Weber is managing claims counsel in the professional liability department. Ms. Weber is an attorney and currently manages professional liability/errors and omissions claims and coverage issues for NYSIR. In that capacity, she supervises litigation brought against schools throughout New York State in the areas of employment discrimination and civil rights concerns. She serves as a member of WRM’s claims committee, which oversees claims and coverage issues, and participates in risk management initiatives. Prior to joining WRM, Ms. Weber practiced insurance litigation defense in various practices areas. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from St. John’s University and a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law.
Frederick S. Black is an assistant vice president and NYSIR’s underwriting manager. He has been in the insurance industry for more than 14 years and his experience includes management positions with a large regional managing general agent, where he had underwriting authority for multiple national insurance carriers. Mr. Black also worked at an insurance brokerage, where he was a senior account manager representing a multinational corporation. At WRM since 1996, he has been a senior underwriter for both the municipal and school reciprocals. His current responsibilities include reinsurance, coverage forms and industry.
Terence Greene is controller of statutory accounting for Wright Risk Management, and is the accounting manager for NYSIR. He has extensive experience in statutory compliance as it applies to property casualty insurance, health benefits and insurance captives. Mr. Greene has more than 15 years experience in directing statutory accounting, investment management and coordinating audits from outside firms for the NYSIR program. He received his B.B.A. and M.B.A. degrees in accounting from Adelphi University.
Gregory Hawk is the regional manager for marketing and subscriber support based in the Buffalo/Rochester region and is responsible for the coordination and administration of services to all NYSIR clients in western New York. During a 25-year career with St. Paul Fire and Marine, State Farm and Chubb, Mr. Hawk developed a broad range of insurance expertise in carrier, agency, sales and territorial management. He holds a New York State Brokers license, Certified School Risk Managers designation, Casualty Claims Law Associate certification and is a New York State Certified Continuing Insurance Education instructor.
John Peppard is a regional manager of marketing and subscriber support serving the needs of NYSIR member school districts of Rockland, Putnam, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties. He joined WRM in 2003 as a litigation examiner for NYSIR, but previously had been employed with State Farm Insurance for five years as a liability claim specialist. Mr. Peppard graduated with a degree in business from Molloy College and holds a New York State Brokers License, as well as designations in claims law. He also is pursuing his CPCU designation.
Colleen Welsh is regional manager of marketing and subscriber support operating out of the Albany/Capital region, and is responsible for NYSIR marketing activities, subscriber client support and producer relations in the Adirondack, Capital, Mid-Hudson and Southern Tier counties of the state. Previously, Ms. Welsh was a litigation specialist with Met Life Auto and Home and earned a Legal Principles Claim Specialist designation from the American Educational Institute. She holds a New York State Brokers License and is a graduate of LeMoyne College.
Janet Ward is a client service manager, and has been attending to the needs of WRM customers since 1994. In her current position, Ms. Ward ensures that the level of professional customer support provided the NYSIR client services division that she is responsible for overseeing consistently exceeds the norm. She earned a B.A. in political science from Adelphi University.