Bharat Varadachari and Whitney Burkett will be two of the featured speakers at this year’s Claims & Litigation Management Alliance’s annual conference. Varadachari will be featured on two programs. One program will present a comprehensive overview of tenders of defense and indemnification, and the other session will discuss how to keep nuclear verdicts from becoming the norm. Burkett’s presentation will discuss the importance of claims professionals and outside counsel being aggressive in litigating high exposure cases.

Varadachari, a partner in the firm’s St. Louis office, focuses his practice on trials involving complex business litigation, including matters related to the defense of insurance matters, the trucking and transportation industry, and personal injury. He has been named an AV Preeminent Attorney by Martindale-Hubbell and is a member of the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, Inns of Court, and American Board of Trial Advocates. He is currently Vice-President of the St. Louis Chapter of the Claims & Litigation Management Alliance, President of the St. Louis County Bar Association, and a past president of The Lawyers Association of St. Louis.

Burkett, an associate attorney in the firm’s Chicago office, focuses her practice on the defense of medical negligence and products liability actions in catastrophic personal injury cases. She also has experience defending medical device, transportation, premises liability, and long-term care matters. Burkett is licensed to practice in Illinois and is admitted to the bars of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois.