Having received a Bachelor of Science in Advertising from The University of Texas at Austin, and her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Texas School of Law, Kristen Johnson was admitted to practice law in the state of Texas in November 2011. Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Johnson spent a year in Eastland, Texas, where she served as Briefing Attorney for the Eleventh Court of Appeals of Texas. Since joining Cantilo & Bennett, L.L.P., in 2013, she has practiced primarily in the areas of civil litigation, insurance litigation, insurance insolvency, and professional liability. Ms. Johnson has served as an advisor to state insurance regulators in numerous matters pertaining to the insolvencies of stock insurers, mutual insurers, captives, risk retention groups, and managed care entities.
Ms. Johnson has extensive experience in insurance company takeovers and the administration of insurance receiverships and liquidations, particularly in the areas of property & casualty and managed healthcare insurance. This includes the takeover phase of receivership, during which operations are often scaled down and transitioned from brick-and-mortar to virtual operations. As a result, Ms. Johnson is experienced in the assessment, cost-benefit analysis, and development of data retention and cybersecurity plans for insurance companies. At takeover, and throughout each receivership, Ms. Johnson also evaluates company practices for professional liability claims. This work includes a detailed review of the company’s accounting books, records, contracts, and vendor relationships. Throughout each receivership, Ms. Johnson has oversight and management of estate administrative expenses and the preparation of the attendant statutorily-required financial reporting.
She has had primary responsibility in a number of receivership proceedings for the development and implementation of receivership claim and appeal procedures to efficiently resolve the outstanding claims against the insolvent insurance company. Also, as part of the claims administration work of the estate, she communicates with reinsurers and oversees reinsurance claim reporting and the collection of reinsurance recoveries.
Ms. Johnson has a wealth of experience in the running of day-to-day operations of insolvent insurance companies and their wholly-owned subsidiaries. This involves communications with policyholders and other stakeholders, management of any retained company personnel, and the selection and management of third-party vendors for the estate. Ms. Johnson also has expertise in handling the regulatory reporting needs of companies in receiverships, including federal reporting required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, as well as coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice in the resolution of government claims against the insurance company. She has also managed the state-level reporting requirements as applicable to specific types of insurance companies.
In addition to overseeing the administrative functions of insurance insolvencies, Ms. Johnson also coordinates with outside counsel in the development and resolution of any attendant litigation – including but not limited to actions to enforce receivership court orders, domesticate receivership court orders in reciprocal states, resolve contractual disputes, and recover the assets of the insolvent insurer’s estate.
Through her supervision of insurance company wind-down and restructuring proceedings, Ms. Johnson has also developed expertise in a number of areas outside the insurance law context including employment law, healthcare law, personal injury, medical malpractice, real estate, secured transactions, Medicare, HIPAA compliance, and commercial trucking regulations.
Representative Receivership Proceedings and Litigation
- State of Nevada, ex rel. Commissioner of Insurance, in his Official Capacity as Statutory Receiver for Delinquent Domestic Insurer v. Universal Healthcare of Nevada, Inc., Case No. CV13-00962, Department No. B13, District Court, Clark County, Nevada
- State of Nevada, ex rel. Commissioner of Insurance, in her Official Capacity as Statutory Receiver for Delinquent Domestic Insurer v. Lancet Indemnity Risk Retention Group, Inc., a Nevada Domiciled Association Captive Insurance Company
- Commissioner of Insurance Barbara D. Richardson, in her capacity as the Receiver for Nevada Health CO-OP v. Milliman, Inc., et al., Case No. A-17-760558-C, Department No. 18, District Court, Clark County, Nevada
- Commissioner of Insurance Barbara D. Richardson, in her capacity as the Receiver for Nevada Health CO-OP v. Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, Case No. A-20-816161-C, Department No. 18, District Court, Clark County, Nevada
- Commissioner of Insurance Barbara D. Richardson, in her capacity as the Receiver for Nevada Health CO-OP v. Wellhealth Medical Associates (Volker), PLLC dba Wellhealth Quality Care, et al., Case No. A-20-818118-C, Department No. 1, District Court, Clark County, Nevada
- Commissioner of Insurance Barbara D. Richardson, in her capacity as the Receiver for Nevada Health CO-OP v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services; Thomas E. Price, M.D., in his capacity as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services; and the United States, Case No. 2:17-cv-00775-JCM-PAL, in the United States District Court
- Barbara D. Richardson, in her capacity as Receiver of Nevada Health CO-OP v. The United States, Case No. 18-1731c, in the United States Court of Federal Claims
- Barbara D. Richardson, in her capacity as the statutory Receiver for Spirit Commercial Auto Risk Retention Group, Inc. v. Thomas Mulligan, et al., Case No. A-20-809963-C, Department No. XIII, District Court, Clark County, Nevada
Not Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization