American Family Counsel Named NCIGF Chair

The Board of Directors of the National Conference of Guaranty Funds (NCIGF) has elected Brandon LaSalle of American Family Insurance as it new chairman.

He will serve a one-year term, with eligibility for reelection the following year. 

LaSalle assumed the board chairman post at the NCIGF's 2013 annual meeting in Phoenix on April 17. In his address to the NCIGF membership, LaSalle said that a focus during his term would be on legislative services, guaranty fund best practices and the promotion of awareness of the guaranty fund system among state guaranty fund board members.

“We all know NCIGF is not a lobbying organization,” he said. “But one of the enduring values the organization provides to state guaranty funds is legislative services: legislative information, legislative expertise. This is an area where the NCIGF continues to build on its success in the public policy arena by providing timely legislative and regulatory information to member guaranty funds.”

LaSalle has served on the NCIGF board since 2009. He also serves on the boards of the Colorado Insurance Guaranty Fund, the Idaho Insurance Guaranty Fund and the Oregon Insurance Guaranty Association. 

LaSalle has served as Government Affairs Counsel for American Family Insurance Group in Denver, Colorado since 1989. He is responsible for advancing the interests of the company with legislative and regulatory authorities in the states of Colorado, Idaho and Oregon.

He joined American Family in 1984. Before joining the Government Affairs Division, Brandon worked as a litigation attorney in the company's first trial unit, Albers and Associates, in Minneapolis. Brandon taught no-fault insurance law for the Minnesota Community College system. In addition, he conducted no-fault arbitrations on behalf of the American Arbitration Association and served as a mediator for the Hennepin County (Minneapolis) District Court System. 

In addition to the NCIGF board and three state guaranty fund boards, LaSalle is involved with a number of industry organizations, including the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, and the Colorado Democratic Leadership Council.