Dr. Bill Conerly is an Oregon economist with a global reputation. He is a Senior Contributor to Forbes with a Duke University Ph.D. As a consultant, he connects the dots between the economy and business. He is also chairman of the board of directors of Cascade Policy Institute and has served on the Council of Economic Advisors to Govenors Kitzhaber, Roberts, Kulongoski and Brown. Bill Conerly has spoken to over 1300 business audiences from Moscow Russia to Moscow Idaho. His Articles are at Forbes.com. He is also the author of The Flexible Stance: Thriving in a Boom/Bust Economy (2017) as well as Businomics (2007). He has been interviewed on PBS, CNN and CNBC, and quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, and Willamette Week.

Dwain Clifford is Chair of Ball Janik LLP’s Insurance Recovery practice. He joined the firm in 2002 after representing clients in commercial litigation with a large firm in Dallas, Texas, and he became a partner with Ball Janik in 2008. His principal areas of practice are insurance-coverage litigation, serving as coverage counsel to insureds being defended by insurance-defense counsel or in adjusting a claim, broker-malpractice litigation, general commercial litigation, and construction law. He has represented a wide variety of plaintiffs and defendants in complex business litigation and has experience litigating cases in state and federal courts in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

Jim McDermott is the long-time head of Ball Janik LLP’s Litigation Department and is past chairman of the firm. Mr. McDermott is a commercial business litigator and trial lawyer who represents both plaintiffs and defendants in complex cases. He has tried scores of cases and argued appeals in federal and state courts throughout the country on a broad range of issues for nationally known public and private companies, small businesses, and individuals. Mr. McDermott has successfully tried cases involving a wide array of large-dollar commercial business disputes, with particular emphasis on corporate governance, construction, shareholders’ rights, professional liability, securities, regulatory, false claims, civil penalty actions, real estate, and insurance recovery. He has successfully resolved claims and lawsuits in a wide range of insurance areas, recovering tens of millions of dollars for clients from domestic and foreign insurers. His insurance recovery practice ranges from large-scale litigation on behalf of corporate policyholders under complex occurrence-based and claims-made coverages, to individual claims under property, disability, health, and other personal policies. Mr. McDermott likewise represents brokers and agents and reinsurance intermediaries – including some of the largest firms in the world – when they become enmeshed in coverage disputes and litigation.

Rick has over thirty years of experience in the insurance profession and most of that time has been spent helping businesses grow and prosper. Rick holds the designations of Certified Insurance Councilor, Accredited Advisor in Insurance, and Certified Risk Manager. He is an avid reader of insurance trade journals and that helps him stay on top of trends in the insurance industry. His insurance career began with Farmers Insurance in Portland, Oregon where he has worked as an auto physical damage claims representative, auto liability claims representative, and held several positions in agency sales support. In insurance, Rick's passion is business insurance. He spent 19 years working for as a commercial wholesaler or zone insurance trainer. He works currently providing coverage reviews for agencies, is a producing agent and insurance instructor. Rick is a native Oregonian, and a University of Oregon graduate. He lives in Tigard and is married. In his free time Rick enjoys sailing, motorcycle riding, fine wine, travel and spending time with his grandkids.