March 2025 
A Tribute to Darryl Thomas

Chief Claims Officer Darryl Thomas is retiring after a three-decade career at ProAssurance. Darryl started his medical professional liability career in the late 1980s, joined ProAssurance’s predecessor company PICOM in 1995, and now closes out his tenure in March 2025. While assisting ProAssurance in becoming an industry leader in claims management, Darryl saw the highs, lows, and constant thrill of leading our Claim Department. 

When did you first become interested in the MPL industry, and more specifically, medical malpractice claims management? 

I graduated law school in 1986, and after passing the Indiana Bar, I received two job offers that surprisingly came on the same day. One was to be a deputy prosecutor in Evansville, Indiana, and the other was to be in the Legal Department at a large medical malpractice insurance company. I chose the insurance position in March 1987 simply because it paid more—nearly double the prosecutor’s job. My priorities were fairly basic back then. It was really just about the money!  

After six weeks or so in the Legal Department at the insurance company, I realized I was not actually practicing law. I was actually managing medical professional liability malpractice claims and managing defense attorneys. I also realized I enjoyed the work—a lot. I enjoyed the medicine, the legal analysis specific to professional liability, and the excitement of defending malpractice cases around the country. I soon decided that I wanted to stay in insurance and wanted to make medical professional liability my career. However, I also realized that in order to advance my career, I had to move on and take more responsible positions with other organizations.  

After several leadership positions, I was eventually hired by then-CEO Vic Adamo in February 1995 to lead PICOM’s Claim Department. PICOM later became ProNational (Professionals Group), which eventually merged with Medical Assurance in 2001 to form ProAssurance. Then-CEO Derrill Crowe, MD, hired me to become the Chief Claims Officer of ProAssurance where I would spend the remainder of my career. 

What were the highlights of your career? What events, good or bad, have impacted you? 

Most claims people will tell you that although we celebrate the wins, it is mostly relief when we do win; however, it is the losses that we remember—sometimes forever. That is certainly true for me. During my tenure at ProAssurance, we have successfully tried thousands of cases, winning the overwhelming majority of the trials; however, it is the losses that hurt the most and are forever etched in my memory. The one that still resonates is my biggest trial loss and is likely, to this day, one of the largest medical professional liability claim verdicts in the United States. After much angst, we were trying a stroke case in Hillsborough County, Florida. The verdict came back on a Friday night—the worst one’s seemed to always come back at the start of the weekend. We were all sweating this case knowing it was going to be either a big win or a big loss. When the verdict came back, our then-Florida Vice President of Claims called me and said, “It’s bad news, and it’s really bad news. Which do you want first?” The bad news was, we had just taken a verdict for $117 million, and the really bad news was that the jury was coming back on Monday to decide on punitive damages. On Monday, the jury awarded $100 million in punitive damages for a total of $217 million—whoa! The most surprising thing about this verdict was that I kept my job!  

On the other hand, the real highs, and what has sustained me and what sustains our Claim Department is the gratitude we receive from our insureds when we successfully defend their practice of medicine. Our claim professionals attend nearly every day of trial, and they will tell you that there is no greater emotional high than that of an insured’s heartfelt gratitude for a well-won trial. It is why we do what we do and what has distinguished ProAssurance for so many years. 

What other events impacted you at ProAssurance? 

The Claim Department leadership team has been very close at ProAssurance. Really, it is one of the things that I am most proud of. We were all impacted, rocked really, by several deaths in our team over the many years. The deaths of Richard Walter, Scott Hunsberger, and Bill O’Malley created an absence, a personal and professional void that still haunts us to this day. Although, true to our Claim Department discipline, we picked ourselves up and continued to do the work of defending our insureds. 

What has your time as Chief Claims Officer at ProAssurance taught you? 

I have learned that it is a team effort. It is the efforts of many that make us successful. On the big cases especially, it takes the involvement of the CEO all the way to the Claim Specialist. It is a contribution by many. I have also learned that we are not going to win all our cases at trial. We have a saying in the Claim Department, “Sometimes we win the cases we should lose, and sometimes we lose the cases we should win.” Juries can be unpredictable and have their own personalities. Once the evidence is in their hands, it is an incredibly stressful wait with no certain outcome.  

I have also learned that if one chooses to be a claim professional, one must thrive on stress. Claims management is not for everyone. Sometimes every day seems like a fist fight. Every one of our claim professionals will tell you about lying in bed at 2:00 a.m. staring at the ceiling wondering if we have made the right decisions as we wait on a jury to return a verdict. My wife used to refer to me as a caged tiger pacing back and forth waiting on a jury. Every claim professional does that. As crazy as that sounds, successful claim people thrive on that stress. To provide an analogy, claim professionals, me included, can be like thoroughbred race horses: walk by our stall and we might spit at you, we might bite you, and if you make us mad, we might even kick you. However, put us on the track and let us run and we will shine, we will make you proud you bet on us. 

You have led the ProAssurance Claim Department for 30 years. Few in the industry have lasted that long in that position. Why were you so successful at ProAssurance? 

Any success I have had at ProAssurance, and I have had significant success, is absolutely due to others. It is due to the dedication and quality of our Claim Specialists, our Directors, our Vice Presidents, our support staff, and especially the Regional Claim Executives who have been my direct reports. I have been successful because I surrounded myself with a high-quality Claim Department and really outstanding people. Additionally, and importantly, I have been successful because I have had the support and guidance of Executive Leadership and, over the many years, our CEOs. 

What will you miss the most? 

First and foremost, I will miss the people—my work family. We spend the majority of our days, our lives really, with our work family. We celebrate together, we cry together, and we even mourn together. We all become close and care deeply about each other. I will miss that. I will miss the bond with others that a successful work life provides.  

Also, I will absolutely miss the liability and the challenge of defending our insureds. I love the medicine, I love the law, and I love the excitement of medical malpractice defense. It has been a really good fit for my personality. What I won’t miss are the “have to’s” and the “to do’s”! In claims management, we are never caught up, we are never finished. There is always more to do. More claims to review, more memos to write. I will not miss the Sunday nights where we all feel the pressure of the “have to’s” and the “to do’s.” I won’t miss that albatross around my neck! 

As Mike Severyn succeeds you, what words of wisdom do you have for him? 

I recruited Mike nearly 30 years ago, so he has heard my many words of wisdom ad nauseam. Nevertheless, here are just few of the main ones.  

Always, always, always do the right thing—period. Every claim professional will tell you that they are challenged every day to maybe deviate to the right or deviate to the left. We have built a Claim Department that takes the straight and narrow—period. Our former CEO Stan Starnes used the axiom that not only should we never cross the line, but we should also never even approach it. We should never get close to it. That is why our core value of integrity has been so important for the Claim Department.  

Next, in managing claims, there can be no secrets whatsoever. Bad news occurs, bad news hurts; however, it cannot be kept a secret. It must be disclosed even though it is painful. Many a claim leader has gotten into the trap of not disclosing bad news. That has ruined careers.  

Another of my words of wisdom is that the law recognizes the doctrine known as strict liability. It means liability even without fault. When something goes wrong in claims management, and that does indeed occur, it is strict liability, and it is on us … regardless of fault or who is to blame. We are responsible. That can be a bitter pill.  

Finally, I would say that when we lose a trial, we must surround our insured with a “blanket of love.” The loss is devastating to a physician and that is when they need us the most. Unfortunately, that blanket of love can be expensive. I have many more words of wisdom, but I will stop. 

What is your next chapter? 

Honestly, I am a little nervous about that. Claim people go at 100 mph, and coming to a screeching halt is a little disconcerting for me. I will stay in Alabama where my children and grandchildren live. I will spend lots of time in Arizona since my wife and I very much enjoy the desert. My wife and I will do some of the proverbial travel that one does when they retire. I still have lots of energy and I do enjoy professional liability, so I may dabble here and there if the opportunity arises. My wife and I are still figuring it out; however, we do plan to give back by helping others.  

Do you have any final message as Chief Claims Officer at ProAssurance? 

For 30 years I have been a member of the management team at ProAssurance and, by far, this is the best medical professional management team I have seen in my entire tenure. I wish I were 10 years younger so I could be part of the success.  

 

A farewell dinner was held for Darryl at the annual Lloyd’s of London meeting in December 2024. The team wished Darryl well in his future endeavors and extended a warm welcome to Mike Severyn as the new head of Claims.