Our Board of Directors

Amy Bach, Executive Director

Amy Bach has been a professional advocate for insurance consumers (policyholders), since 1984 and an attorney since 1989. A native of Brooklyn, New York residing in San Francisco, she is co-founder and Executive Director of United Policyholders, ("UP"). UP is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1991 that is dedicated to educating the public on insurance issues and consumer rights, and to advancing the interests of all policyholders. www.uphelp.org. Bach oversees the organization's three programs: Roadmap to Recovery™ program, Roadmap to Preparedness Program and Advocacy and Action Program, as well as media and public outreach throughout the United States.

Bach graduated cum laude from Cornell University in 1982. She received her Juris Doctor degree in 1989. Bach represented non-profit entities including the Center for Public Interest Law and the Proposition 103 Enforcement Project in regulatory and litigation matters in California. She litigated insurance disputes on behalf of individual and commercial policyholders with Bourhis & Associates, then with the Law Office of Amy Bach. In 2005 Bach left private practice to become the full time Executive Director of United Policyholders.

Ms. Bach has performed government service with the New York State Legislature, the New York State Consumer Protection Board (1980's) and as a consultant to the California State Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Bad Faith and Consumer Rights, (2000). She served as counsel to a special master overseeing reforms at the California Department of Insurance in the 1990's. Bach was appointed in January, 2008 by California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner to Chair a Consumer Advisory Task Force.

She is serving her third term as a funded consumer representative at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and her first term on the NAIC Consumer Participation Board of Trustees. She has extensive experience providing input to public officials on insurance and legislative matters, particularly those that arise in the aftermath of natural disasters.

Bach has received awards from the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of California, the Proposition 103 Implementation Project, and the Consumer Attorneys of California. She has authored and contributed to numerous publications on insurance matters, and is co-author of "The Disaster Recovery Handbook & Household Inventory Guide" (UP Press 2006).

Recent speeches:

• Community Actions Plan for Seismic Safety, S.F., CA. May 2010
• Central Coast Claims Association, San Jose, CA. March 2010
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners, S.F., CA, December 2009
• FireSafe Council, Santa Barbara, CA, September, 2009
• Business Recovery Manager's Association; Novato, CA. April, 2009
• American Association of Justice, Winter Convention, New Orleans, LA, Feb. 2009
• Sustainable Silicon Valley Annual Meeting, Santa Clara, CA. December, 2008
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Fall meeting, Wash. D.C., 2008
• Stanford Management Association, Palo Alto, CA. June, 2008
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Summer meeting S.F., CA. 2008
• American Bar Association, Insurance Law Section, Los Angeles, CA., February 2008
• National Conference of State Insurance Legislators, Las Vegas, NV, November, 2007
• United Farmers Agents Association Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, July 2007
• Personal Insurance Federation, Sacramento, CA. June, 2007
• Louisiana Association for Justice, Hurricane Recovery IV, May, 2007
• Nat'l Assn. of Public Insurance Adjusters Mid-Year Meeting, S.F., CA. Dec. 2006
• National Fair Housing Alliance, Case Worker Training, New Orleans, LA, Oct. 2006
• American Trial Lawyers Association, Insurance Law Section program, July 2006
• State Farm Agents' Lobby Day, Sacramento, CA. June, 2006
• Chartered P/C Underwriters Society Annual Meeting, S.F., CA. Nov. 2004

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Stanley G. Feldman

Stanley G. Feldman served as a justice for twenty-one years, including a five year term as Chief Justice. During his long tenure, the Arizona Supreme Court became one of the nation’s most respected state supreme courts, due in significant part to Justice Feldman’s exceptional writing, analysis, and active participation during oral arguments" (Excerpted from an article by Toni Massaro that appeared in the Albany Law Review in 2003).

Since retiring from the bench, Justice Feldman has returned to private practice and is representing policyholders in insurance disputes. He prepared an amicus brief pro bono in Cundiff v. State Farm. Our brief contributed to the Arizona Supreme Court granting review on two key issues.

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Larry P. Ginsburg

Larry Ginsburg is a certified financial planner with offices in the Montclair Village District of Oakland. He has served as the Chairman of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) of the East Bay and Chairman of the FPA Northern California Presidents' Council.

Mr. Ginsburg volunteered his time after the 1991 Oakland/Berkeley firestorm to help many of his friends and neighbors in the Oakland Hills get their insurance claims settled and their finances in order and joined UP's Board in 1994.

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William H. Hedden

William Hedden is President and CEO of Consolidated Adjusting, Inc, a public insurance adjusting firm. In 1991, he became a licensed Public Insurance Adjuster with the California Department of Insurance. He is also a licensed real estate broker and a licensed B-1 general contractor in the State of California. He earned a law degree from Hastings College of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1979.  

Mr. Hedden has been an active member of the Board of United Policyholders since 1997.

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Jim Jones

Jim Jones is a Managing Director with Scale Venture Partners in Foster City, CA. Jim joined Scale Venture Partners in 2000 and currently sits on the Board of Directors of 5 private high technology companies, and previously served on the board of Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ: MPWR). Prior to Scale Venture Partners, Jim held executive roles with 3Com and National Semiconductor. Jim also previously served on the Board of Directors of The Learning Center, a non-profit pre-school in Palo Alto, CA. Jim holds a BSEE from the University of California, Davis.

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E. Gerard "Gerry" Mannion

Gerry Mannion is an attorney in private practice in San Francisco, California representing individuals and businesses in insurance coverage and claim disputes. He is a former President of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association.

Mr. Mannion has been a member of the UP Board since 2003.

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Deborah Senn

Deborah Senn has been a lawyer and consumer advocate for 28 years. Ms. Senn has provided legal representation for a broad range of clients including consumers, community groups, women’s groups, labor unions and small businesses.

Ms. Senn served two terms (1993 – 2001) as Washington State’s seventh State Insurance Commissioner. During her tenure, she saved Washington’s insurance consumers millions of dollars. She stood up to the insurance industry on behalf of the public. Senn was described as "the best insurance commissioner in the United States."

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William Shernoff

Mr. Shernoff returns to United Policyholders board, having served on UP's first Board of Directors. He was a founding partner of the law firm Shernoff, Bidart & Darras. He has devoted his career to fighting insurance company abuses. In 1974 Mr. Shernoff set the legal precedent that established bad faith law. He has been listed in the The Best Lawyers in American every year since 1983 and was named a Super Lawyer of 2000 by Law and Politics Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine.

Mr. Shernoff has authored three books and has donated copies of his most recent book: Payment Refused: How to Make Insurance Companies Pay your Claims as one of the thank-you gifts to UP's new membership program. He has always been a friend to UP and always been a valued advisor and contributor.

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Shirley Roberson

UP is thrilled to welcome non-profit executive Shirley Roberson to our Board of Directors. Shirley has been indispensable to United Policyholders since 1997 in various paid and volunteer capacities. Shirley brings a wealth of skills and dedication to the Board. She was a cofounder of A Central Place, an incubator for fledgling nonprofits in downtown Oakland, California, where she served as the Executive Director for nearly 10 years. At her first Board meeting as an official member, Shirley recently commented ³I¹ve stayed involved with UP over the years because I recognize the tremendous need for the organization¹s work and the value of the services that UP provide

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Alice Wolfson, President

Alice Wolfson, a nationally known policyholders' attorney, is a founder of the National Women's Health Network and has served on their board for six years. Additionally, she was a founder of the Committee to Defend Reproductive Rights/Coalition for Medical Rights of Women where she has also served as Executive Director. She also served as a consumer representative on an FDA Advisory Committee.

Ms. Wolfson has extensive experience in health and disability insurance issues, as well as non-profit administration and social action. Ms. Wolfson joined the UP Board in 2000.

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