Give them the session that changes how they handle it. Sessions on documentation, de-escalation, catastrophe leadership, and the adjuster-to-manager transition — delivered by a licensed independent adjuster who has actually worked the files.
They have never scoped a roof, never stood in a driveway, and never had to explain a coverage position to somebody who was crying.
Dr. Karissa Thomas is a licensed independent adjuster with catastrophe and large-loss experience — and a career educator with a doctorate in educational leadership. The room can tell the difference within ninety seconds, and it changes how they listen.
Every example is a claim. Every framework was built for the pressure adjusters actually work under — not adapted from a corporate leadership deck.
Checklists, scripts, and a 30-day action plan. Not inspiration — instructions.
Sessions are grounded in published research on claims satisfaction, litigation exposure, and the claims talent pipeline. See the evidence →
We promote for technical excellence and then wonder why leadership fails. This session names the pattern, quantifies what it costs in attrition and cycle time, and gives claims managers a concrete framework to get out of it. Attendees leave with a self-assessment and a 30-day plan.
The file you build today is the file that will be reviewed, challenged, and possibly litigated tomorrow. Documentation that survives scrutiny, professional judgment you can explain to someone who wasn’t there, and litigation awareness from first notice of loss.
Satisfaction more than doubles when a policyholder finds it easy to communicate with their insurer — 777 versus 337 on J.D. Power’s scale. Same claim, same payout, different adjuster. This is the session on de-escalation, expectation-setting, and delivering a decision without creating a dispute.
Ninety days from home. Three hours of sleep. The worst day of a stranger’s life, over and over. The honest session on catastrophe leadership — staffing a surge, holding a team together, and what deployment does to the people who do it.
Something else in mind? Sessions are built around the room. Tell us who is in it and what is going wrong, and we will build the talk for that. Start there →
Not a ten-minute panel slot. A full session, on the main programme, to a room of working CAT adjusters.
Programme chairs: the speaker one-sheet (PDF) and the full speaker kit — bios, press photos, session outlines, and AV requirements — are ready to forward. Travels from Dallas–Fort Worth; available nationally and internationally. Lead time 6–8 weeks preferred. Fee range provided on request.
For conferences with an expo or a bookstore: Dr. Thomas signs and sells on site. Bulk copies can be shipped ahead for attendee giveaways — ask when you book.
See her background and writing on LinkedIn
Dr. Thomas also speaks outside insurance — executive leadership, higher education, and international audiences. Those engagements are listed on drkarissathomas.net. The sessions on this page are built for claims.
Who’s in it, what they’re struggling with, and when. We’ll come back with a session built for them — or tell you honestly if we’re not the right fit.
Conferences, association meetings, carrier all-hands, CAT pre-season kickoffs, and firm leadership offsites.
Both are cheap. One costs you the price of lunch. The other costs you a slot in your calendar. Neither commits you to anything.
