Your House Counsel, a national consortium of insurance and corporate liability insurance defense law firms, announced that Cleveland attorney Joseph F. Nicholas, Jr., president and managing partner of Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder Co., L.P.A., will become the organization's first group chair.

Seth Peller has been named Global CEO of Willis Group Holdings' Fine Art, Jewellery and Specie division, based in London.

Bryan Lewis has been named director of sales for CHS Insurance, the nation's largest agribusiness insurance broker and full-service insurance subsidiary of CHS Inc. Lewis will have responsibility for the property/casualty and group benefits sales teams, as well as oversee the group's Safety Resources division.

JLT Specialty Insurance Services Inc., a subsidiary of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc. (JLT), named Chris Najim its new Senior Vice President of Analytics and Consulting.

Matthew Kletzli has joined Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, one of largest managing general underwriters in the U.S., as senior vice president and Management Liability Practice leader.

Industry News

In an effort that reflects “the growing importance of analytics, collaboration and data-driven workflow applications, March LLC has rebranded its STARS business unit and technology platform as Marsh Clearsight.

Main Street America Group's NGM Insurance Company has introduced an expanded workers' compensation program in Vermont via its network of independent insurance agents across the state. In Vermont, the product can be written with Main Street America's NGM Insurance Company, Main Street America Assurance Company or Old Dominion Insurance Company.

Entries are now being accepted for the Insurance Marketing & Communications Association's (IMCA) 2015 Innovation Torchbearer Award. A nomination form is available on the IMCA website.

Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich is set to address the board of directors of The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America on April 24 at the organization's annual legislative conference.

The Arbella Insurance Foundation raised nearly $90,000 for hunger relief programs across New England for the seventh year of its “Let's Drive Out Hunger” campaign. The campaign centers on a matching gift program in which Arbella matches donations from any of its nearly 500 independent agents on a two-to-one basis.

Guy Carpenter announced the launch of the Public Sector Specialty Practice. This global team is focused exclusively on the unique risk management needs of governmental agencies and entities.

Patriot National, Inc., a national provider of outsourcing solutions to the insurance industry, has acquired Vikaran Solutions, LLC, a Chicago-based technology company that provides software and services to the property and casualty industry.

Philadelphia Insurance Companies is partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant 80,000 trees and offset 2,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2015