J. Caralisa Connell
Senior Attorney
fax +1 214.659.4024
J. Caralisa Connell counsels clients in a wide variety of commercial litigation and insurance coverage matters, with a focus on fidelity bonds, commercial crime, directors and officers insurance, and surety matters.
Education
J.D., magna cum laude, Belmont University College of Law, 2017
B.S., University of Louisville, 2014
Memberships
American Bar Association – Tort Trial Insurance Practice, Fidelity and Surety Law, Young Lawyers Division
South Carolina Bar Association – Construction Law, Employment & Labor Law, Torts/Insurance, South Carolina Women Lawyers
Fidelity Law Association, Website Subcommittee
Fidelity & Surety Law Committee, Technology and Social Media Committee
State Bar Licenses
Tennessee, South Carolina
Court Admissions
U.S. District Ct., E.D. of Tennessee
U.S. District Ct., W.D. of Tennessee
U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit
U.S. District Ct., M.D. of Tennessee
U.S. District Ct., District of South Carolina
U.S. District Ct., District of New Mexico
U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit
EXPERIENCE:
- Represented insurer in litigation in Virginia federal court in which plaintiffs sought coverage under a commercial crime policy, obtaining summary judgment on the basis a construction contract was not a security, as defined by the policy. Heartland Construction, Inc. Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America, Case No. 2:21CV43 (RCY), 2022 WL 4016884 (E.D. Va. Aug. 30, 2022).
PRESENTATIONS:
- ERISA Fidelity Bonds: ERISA Bonding Requirements and Their Potential Tension with Standard Fidelity Bonds, Fidelity Law Association Annual Conference (November 2022)
- Pre-Trial Litigation: Measure Twice, Cut Once, ABA Annual Mid-Winter Meeting of the Fidelity & Surety Law Committee (August 2022)
- A Thief Onboard! A Map to Handling an Employee’s Theft of a Construction Contract, Gulfcoast Fidelity & Surety Institute Annual Meeting (June 2022)
- The Fight for Pirate’s Booty: The Interplay Between an Insured/Obligee’s Recovery Under a Surety Bond and Fidelity Insurance, Gulfcoast Fidelity & Surety Institute Annual Meeting (June 2022)
- Fidelity Case Law Update, ABA Fall Meeting of the Fidelity & Surety Law Committee (November 2021)
- Misrepresentations in the Application: A Critical Consideration That You Need To Be Sure To Consider, Client CLE Program (June 2021)
PUBLICATIONS:
- Co-author. ERISA Fidelity Bonds: ERISA Bonding Requirements and Their Potential Tension with Standard Fidelity Bonds, Fidelity Law Association Annual Conference XXVIII Fid. L.J. 137 (November 2022)
- Fidelity Law Update 2022, XXVIII Fid. L.J. 1 (November 2022)