Board Members

Suzanne Karapashev is an environmental complex claims specialist at Westfield Insurance. In her role, she handles and supervises environmental and toxic tort claims nationally. Prior to her current position, Suzanne was an attorney at Roetzel & Andress, LLC, handling insurance defense and environmental matters. Before that, she managed claims legal research for Progressive Insurance for the East Coast and was a judicial attorney for the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. 

Suzanne’s degrees include a Bachelor of Arts in History with honors at the College of Wooster (1988) and a J.D. from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law (1991). She received the Journal of Dispute Resolution Past Editors’ Award for significant and lasting contribution to the publication in 1991. 

Suzanne enjoys music, art, books, films, unusual food, Marathon Bars (aka Curly Wurlys), and travel. 

Ryan Gillespie is co-chair of the FETTI board. In this capacity, he executes FETTI’s mission alongside fellow co-chair Bonnie Christner Lambiase. Ryan also advises the FETTI conference committee and routinely emcees its annual event. 

Ryan is a specialty claims manager in the Environmental Claims Unit at Nationwide Insurance. In his role, he manages a team of environmental claim professionals nationally. Prior to accepting his current position, Ryan was an assistant vice president at Great American Insurance, where he spent time in the Specialty E&S and Environmental and Health Hazard Claims Divisions. Ryan also spent seven years with Travelers Insurance in their Special Liability Group.  

Throughout his career, Ryan has served as the lead carrier representative nationally for several Fortune 500 companies, which include valve, gasket, boiler, insulation contractors, refractory products, and premises liability defendants in asbestos litigation. He currently holds the commercial lines coverage specialist designation at the National Underwriter Company and is pursuing the CPCU designation.  

Ryan has been a presenter and panelist at several seminars, speaking on a wide array of relevant insurance topics. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Illinois State University. 

Ryan enjoys coaching baseball, playing golf, and spending time with his wife, Jenny, their two sons, Griffin and Grant, and daughter, Emma.

Bonnie has served on the FETTI board since 2006 and was a co-chair from 2011 to 2015. In this capacity, Bonnie executed FETTI’s mission alongside fellow co-chair Ryan Gillespie. She also prepared the board’s agendas each year, advised the FETTI conference committee, and conducted the board meetings.  

Bonnie routinely emcees at FETTI’s annual conference. She has returned to serve as the CLE/CE coordinator, a position she held from 2006 to 2011.  

Bonnie earned her law degree from the University of North Dakota School of Law, where she studied environmental law. She is licensed to practice law in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. Bonnie graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Superior with a B.S. in Chemistry and a minor in Mathematics. 

Scott D. Pfeiffer serves as the FETTI board’s editor. In this capacity, he is responsible for FETTI’s periodic newsletter, including article solicitation, editing, and publishing. Scott also coordinates the annual “Call for Speakers” application process and works with the board to screen the applications for the annual conference. 

Scott is a partner with extensive experience in state and federal courts and has been admitted pro hac vice in over 13 separate jurisdictions. He received his Juris Doctorate from the John Marshall Law School.  

Scott is the editor of FETTI’s newsletter and has participated in speaking engagements on the topics of the coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and diacetyl litigation. He is a member of the Elite Defense Network – Berkley Life Sciences and has also served as a panelist at The Chicago Bar Association’s program on mastering Section 2-615 Motions to Dismiss. 

​​Chris is the Director of Litigation Services at August Mack Environmental, Inc. with more than thirty years of experience in environmental engineering, chemistry, and project management. In his role, he is responsible for leading a group that provides litigation support and serves as consulting or expert witnesses on numerous litigation matters in state and federal court. During his career Chris has performed or managed hundreds of residential, commercial, and industrial site assessments, site investigations, and remediation projects involving a wide range of environmental contaminants.

Chis is a certified hazardous materials manager (CHMM).  He received his M.S. in Environmental Science and Engineer from the Colorado School of Mines (1997) and B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Environmental Science from Butler University (1991). 

Linda Bondi Morrison has been on the board of FETTI as its secretary for nearly 20 years and is active in a number of other professional and charitable organizations. These include the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), under its grants committee (western division), and Insuring the Children (an insurance industry group funding child abuse prevention programs), as part of its board. Linda is also a mentor for the UC Irvine School of Law Mentorship Program. 

Linda is a partner in Tressler LLP’s Orange County, California, office, where she represents insurance companies in complex litigation and coverage matters involving general liability, excess exposures, environmental and toxic torts, construction defects, errors and omissions, advertising/personal injury, and bad faith. She has represented clients as a trial counsel in a number of significant, complex matters in California and across the country.  

As a frequent lecturer and author, Linda regularly speaks at and moderates national conferences. Recent presentations include: 

• “Who Pays When Products Fail? Determining Damage and Coverage for Claims Involving Defective Products,” ABA Section of Litigation Insurance Coverage Committee, March 2015 
• “The Significance of Mentors and Sponsors,” IICF Women in Insurance Conference, June 2014 
• “Recent Developments and Issues in Insurance Coverage for Asbestos Claims,” Perrin Cutting-Edge Issues in Asbestos Litigation Conference, March 2014 
• “Defense Allocation Issues When Independent Counsel is Triggered,” HB Insurance Allocation Strategies 2013 Conference (Which Linda Co-Chaired), October 2013  

Linda was also the regional editor for the Defense Research Institute (DRI) Excess and Umbrella Compendium, published in 2012. 

Jack McCants serves as FETTI’s sponsorship coordinator. In this capacity, he is the corporate sponsorship liaison to the FETTI board, advising the board on sponsorship participation, attendance, and funding for the annual conference. 

Jack is an attorney at Maron Marvel Bradley & Anderson LLC. His specific areas of practice include asbestos, chemical and mold exposure, environmental litigation, hearing loss, personal injury, and product liability.  

Jack’s admissions include Mississippi (2000), Tennessee (2000), the U.S. District Court for Middle and Western Districts of Tennessee, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. 

In addition to FETTI, Jack serves or has served on the Mississippi Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Capital Area Bar Association (CABA), the Defense Research Institute (DRI), the Charles Clark Chapter of American Inns of Court, Barrister, the Society of Toxicology, and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 

Jack received a J.D. (Toxicology M.S. Program) from the University of Mississippi School of Law and a B.S. from Northeast Louisiana University (cum laude). While in law school, he served as the student body senator, the Delta Theta Phi secretary, and the Graduate Student Counsel vice president. 

James serves as FETTI’s webmaster. In this capacity, he is responsible for managing FETTI’s website, the online annual conference promotion, and social media content. 

James is the president and CEO of The Environmental Liability & Asset Management Group (The ELAM Group). In his role, he is responsible for carrying out the group’s vision of providing its clients with top-tier quality of service nationwide in the areas of reserve cost estimating, litigation support, pollution claim oversight, and environmental contracting.  

James is an expert at environmental life cycle cost and time projection modeling. He has directed the assessment, remediation, and closure of numerous cases involving petroleum, chlorinated solvents, creosote, chromium, lead, arsenic, and PCBs for Fortune 500 companies, municipalities, insurance companies, and attorneys. James has also provided expert testimony in the areas of soil and groundwater pollution, vapor intrusion, and regulatory compliance. 

James is a licensed professional geologist who has successfully passed the Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG) fundamental and practical examinations. He received his M.S. in Structural Geology from the University of Tennessee (2000) and his B.S. in Geology with a Minor in Philosophy from the University of Dayton (1996).