Don't invite the leaders of the Western Insurance Agents Association to the same dinner party as J. Patrick Gallagher Jr., the chairman, president and CEO of Arthur J. Gallagher. Last week, the WIAA issued its latest salvo over the loss of contingency fees, thanks to misbehavior by the big brokerages, slamming Mr. Gallagher in response to the Jan. 31 article on our NU Online Daily News Service, in which he indicated his firm is getting along just fine without contingent commissions. The WIAA said that Main Street producers must be “wondering if the lunatics have taken over the asylum” after hearing what they described as Mr. Gallagher's “self-serving comments.”

In our story, we quoted Mr. Gallagher as stating that the decision by St. Paul Travelers and Chubb to abandon contingent compensation was very good news.

Perhaps its very good news for Gallagher and the other large commercial insurance brokers on Wall Street, whose alleged bid-rigging and anti-competitive conduct led to settlement agreements which now prohibit them from receiving contingent compensation, but it is not good news for the thousands of hardworking independent insurance agents and brokers on Main Street who follow the law, Alan Smith Jr., President and CEO of the WIAA Group, responded in the group's release.