WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2022 — Overland Park, Kansas, attorney Michelle Worrall Tilton will receive the Andrew C. Hecker Memorial Award from the American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section on Saturday at the TIPS Fall Leadership Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona. The award recognizes a person who consistently demonstrates the qualities of leadership, outreach, enthusiasm, professionalism and pride in TIPS and its accomplishments.
Worrall Tilton has more than 30 years of experience in professional liability insurance, including claims, coverage, underwriting and product development, particularly in the areas of media, entertainment and cyber. Currently an assistant vice president and cyber product specialist for Zurich NA, she has worked for several insurers, including the former Media/Professional Insurance. In 1998, she co-founded a media liability managing general underwriting agency, which she later sold to an insurer, serving as vice president and media liability product manager. Prior to joining Zurich, she was a media insurance consultant for Media Risk Consultants, which she co-founded.
“Michelle has been an enthusiastic and devoted member of TIPS through the years whose consistent presence, insight and energy have positively influenced those around her and the work of the organization. We are proud to recognize Michelle by presenting her with the Hecker Award,” said Gary L. Gassman, TIPS chair.
A frequent speaker and author on insurance-related issues, Worrall Tilton is active in several media and cyber committees within TIPS and other bar associations. She recently served as chair of the TIPS Network Security and Data Privacy Committee and has chaired the TIPS Media and Advertising Law Committee. She currently chairs the Insurance Law Committee for the ABA Forum on Communications Law and is a former chair and long-time member of the Media Law Committee of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association. For many years, she served as co-chair of the Missouri Bar Association’s Insurance Programs Committee. She is a licensed property and casualty insurance agent.
Worrall Tilton served on the ABA TIPS Council for seven years — as General Committee board chair, member of council and revenue officer. She has been a member of many TIPS committees, including chair of the Solo & Small Firm Committee Task Force and chair of TIPS Fellows. She co-authored a chapter on “Media Liability and the Cyber Policy” for “A Practical Guide to Cyber Insurance for Businesses,” published by ABA Publishing this year.
A highlight in Worrall Tilton’s career was receiving the TIPS Kirsten Christophe Memorial Award for excellence in Trial and Insurance Law in 2006. She received her J.D. from the University of Kansas and previously served on the law school’s Board of Governors.
The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.