News & Events
Recent news & events
Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP Recognized by Best Law Firms® 2025
November 7, 2024Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP is honored to be named a Tier 1 firm in Metropolitan Chicago for Insurance Law and Insurance Litigation, as well as a Tier 2 firm nationally for Insurance Law by Best Law Firms®.
ABA Litigation Section Women in Insurance Conference
October 8, 2024Karen M. Dixon will be speaking on a panel titled, “How to re-CLAIM Efficiency When Arbitrating Insurance Disputes,” as part of the ABA Litigation Section Women in Insurance conference.
Skarzynski Marick & Black Achieves Mansfield Certification Plus Status
October 2, 2024Skarzynski Marick & Black proudly announces its achievement of Mansfield Certification Plus, marking the culmination of a rigorous year-long collaboration with Diversity Lab to track, measure and enhance diversity in leadership. To earn the Plus designation, the firm voluntarily provided data to Diversity Lab, demonstrating the progress and outcomes of its efforts to broaden the talent pool and improve the transparency of its advancement process.
2024 PLUS Cyber University | Fall Session
September 17, 2024John Black will be presenting at PLUS Cyber University on September 17, 2024.
Skarzynski Marick Prevails in Seventh Circuit Rescission Case
August 22, 2024Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP attorneys Mike Marick and Joel Vander Vliet secured an appellate victory for Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company affirming the lower court’s ruling on summary judgment entitling Grinnell to rescission.
Skarzynski Marick Lawyers Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® 2025
August 15, 2024Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP is proud to announce that Michael Marick, John Black, Karen M. Dixon, James Kallianis, Michael Rosen, and Timothy Wright have been selected for inclusion in the 2025 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Insurance Law.
Skarzynski Marick Lawyers Recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America 2025
August 15, 2024Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP is pleased to announce that Sarah Allison, Ashley Anderson, Marie Figueiredo, Douglas Giombarrese, Tae Young Lee, John Lynn, Logan McIntyre, Paul Perry, Neel Rana, May Tan, Michael Thompson, and Sarah Voutyras are recognized in the 2025 Edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Insurance Law.
Chambers USA 2024 Recognizes Skarzynski Marick & Black and Individual Lawyers in Insurance Dispute Resolution
June 6, 2024The 2024 edition of Chambers USA: Leading Lawyers for Business has ranked Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP for “Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Insurer.” This year, the firm received a Band 1 ranking in Illinois and a new ranking for New York. Individually ranked lawyers include Illinois-based partners Michael M. Marick, James H. Kallianis, and Karen M. Dixon and New York-based partner, James A. Skarzynski. Chambers highlights the firm as being “very knowledgeable and thorough, with a deep bench of talented insurance coverage lawyers,” and “the team combines technical expertise with sound judgement and strategic thinking.”
Tammy Yuen and Cheryl Vollweiler, Elected as a Fellows of the American College of Coverage Counsel
May 28, 2024We are pleased to announce that Tammy Yuen and Cheryl Vollweiler have been elected as a Fellows of the American College of Coverage Counsel.
Skarzynski Marick Secures Victory With Eighth Circuit Holding No Duty To Defend Or Indemnify Insured Arising From Warehouse Collapse
March 4, 2024Skarzynski Marick attorneys Michael Marick and Andrew Candela represented AXIS Surplus Insurance Company in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which affirmed the summary judgment that AXIS has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured for multiple deaths arising from a tornado that struck an Amazon warehouse. The real estate developer of the warehouse, TriStar Companies LLC, sought its significant defense costs and indemnity under a policy issued by AXIS.
2024 PLUS Cyber University | Spring Session
January 30, 2024John Black, Esq., CIPP/US will be presenting a virtual session titled, “Non-Cyber Line of Coverage, Evolution of Cyber Coverage, and Interplay Among Lines of Insurance,” as part of the PLUS Cyber University Series.
Skarzynski Marick Lawyers Recognized as Illinois Super Lawyers and Illinois Rising Stars 2024
January 24, 2024Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP is excited to announce that Super Lawyers has named five attorneys to its 2024 Illinois Super Lawyers and Illinois Rising Stars lists. Four attorneys were recognized as 2024 Illinois Super Lawyers and one attorney was recognized as a 2024 Illinois Rising Star.
Skarzynski Marick adds insurance coverage litigation partner, Amber Locklear
January 19, 2024Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP is pleased to announce the addition of partner Amber Locklear, bolstering the growth of the insurance coverage litigation capabilities in New York.
Environmental Litigation Trends: What Is Heating Up Besides the Climate?
December 26, 2023This article, written by Cheryl Vollweiler for The Brief, the ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice publication, highlights timely environmental litigation trends.
Skarzynski Marick Recognized by Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms" 2024
November 1, 2023Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP is pleased to announce that the 2024 Edition of Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms" honors the firm for its practice in Insurance Law as a top-ranked national firm and a Metropolitan Tier 1 law firm in Chicago.
Skarzynski Marick & Black Appoints Kathy Carr as New Chief Financial Officer to Drive Financial Growth and Strategy
June 20, 2023Skarzynski Marick & Black appoints Kathy Carr as Chief Financial Officer. With over 20 years’ experience in law firm finance, Kathy will oversee the firm’s financial operations and strategic initiatives, driving growth for the firm and providing outstanding value for our clients.
Skarzynski Marick & Black Achieves Midsize Mansfield Certification
May 22, 2023Skarzynski Marick & Black announces achievement of Midsize Mansfield Certification, marking the culmination of a rigorous 18-month collaboration with Diversity Lab to track, measure and achieve diversity in leadership. The Mansfield Rule Certification recognizes firms that affirmatively consider at least 30% women, underrepresented racial and ethnic lawyers, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitches, lateral lawyer hiring, and more.
IADC Professional Liability Roundtable
April 26, 2023Sarah Voutyras Rachmel will be moderating an upcoming panel on “The FTX Meltdown: Insurance Issues Arising from The FTX Collapse” for the IADC Professional Liability Roundtable on Thursday, May 18th at Cornell University, ILR School.
2023 American College of Coverage Counsel - 11th Annual Meeting
April 25, 2023James Skarzynski and Karen M. Dixon will be speaking on upcoming panels for the American College of Coverage Counsel - 11th Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.