Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
For more than 30 years, I’ve worked at the intersection of sexual abuse litigation, insurance coverage, claim valuation, and compassionate claim resolution. My career has taken me from major insurance coverage litigation to founding Burnett Risk Control International to creating the Burnett Index — a unique database providing objective valuation metrics for sexual misconduct claim resolution. Over the past two decades, I’ve: • Valuated thousands of claims, and built and continually curated a database of over 110,000 sexual abuse claims worldwide — one of the largest collections of settlement and verdict and other valuation data. • Served as an expert witness and consultant in landmark litigation, including the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy, and coverage litigation arising out of the Nassar/MSU sexual abuse litigation and reinsurance arbitration, providing expert reports, deposition testimony, and trial testimony. • Led valuation and advisory work for religious entities, schools, residential schools, nonprofits, insurers, reinsurers, plaintiff and defense counsel, survivor advocacy organizations and risk managers. • Served as head of a compensation program for a U.S. diocese, helping improve survivor outcomes with fairness, transparency, and consistency. • Acted as a mediator and advisor in resolving sexual misconduct claims with sensitivity, compassion, balance, and data-driven guidance. • Delivered national CLE programs and have been a frequent speaker in the U.S., Canada, and Europe on valuation, risk control, and safe-environment leadership. My goal is to guide entities from complexity to clarity to resolution at a time when institutions face unprecedented litigation exposure, survivors seek meaningful resolution, and insurers and attorneys require accurate and data-driven valuation metrics to negotiate appropriate claim resolutions. The Burnett Index offers reliable valuation ranges, comparative metrics, and jurisdictional analytics, along with other critical data points. The platform helps stakeholders evaluate claims more effectively — and more equitably. If you work in litigation, insurance, institutional leadership, or survivor advocacy, and need valuation insight, mediation, expert analysis, or data-driven guidance—please message me here or email [email protected]. I’ll be happy to provide a Burnett Index demo or a free consultation to discuss your issue.
As the creator of Burnett Index, with my team, I developed an innovative, user-friendly, intuitive online platform that delivers trusted data to support the accurate valuation of sexual abuse claims. Powered by information carefully curated for over two decades, it is now available for subscription access. Built from my proprietary database of over a hundred thousand settlement and verdict outcomes, the Burnett Index equips attorneys, insurers, mediators, and risk professionals with the clarity and insight they need to make informed, defensible decisions in highly sensitive cases. My goal in building the Burnett Index platform is to bring transparency, efficiency, and fairness to the resolution of sexual abuse claims — providing a reliable, data-driven foundation for negotiations, risk assessment, and litigation strategy for all stakeholders. The Burnett Index represents the culmination of over 30 years of expertise, research, and dedication to helping parties navigate these challenging claims with confidence and integrity.
Burnett Risk Control International provides expert services in preventing and resolving sexual abuse claims. I advise institutions, insurers, attorneys, and survivor groups on valuation, safe environment practices, risk control, and effective resolution frameworks. Key roles & accomplishments: • Founder & creator of the Burnett Index, the most comprehensive valuation database for sexual misconduct claims. • Valuated thousands of claims and built a dataset of 110,000+ cases worldwide used to benchmark settlement and verdict values. • Expert witness in major litigation, including the Boy Scouts bankruptcy (reports, depositions, trial testimony), coverage litigation involving underlying Nassar/MSU cases and reinsurance arbitration. • Consultant & mediator for claims involving religious organizations, nonprofits, schools and residential schools, insurers, and reinsurance markets. • Developed child safety policies, risk control programs, and conducted compliance audits for national institutions. • Lead designer of compensation program structures for handling survivor claims equitably and compassionately. • Frequent speaker, panelist and instructor (CLE, national conferences, international mediation forums) on valuation, risk control, and compassionate resolution. I assess the risk of sexual abuse and related perils, designing and implementing loss prevention and risk control programs for organizations. I develop and lead child safety initiatives, working with religious and nonprofit organizations to help prevent sexual abuse and create safer environments. I also offer claims management consulting, insurance and coverage consulting, and serve as an expert witness in matters involving sexual abuse, claims handling, and valuation. In addition, I mediate sexual abuse claims, fostering fair and informed outcomes for all parties involved.
Formerly, Lord, Bissell & Brook Major coverage litigation and national claims management, with a concentration on clergy misconduct, professional liability and other complex liability cases. Successfully represented domestic and international insurers in coverage disputes.
General litigation, environmental coverage analysis and litigation, products liability and insurance defense with an 80% summary judgment success rate.
Handled complex commercial litigation, environmental coverage, insurance fraud, and sexual misconduct matters. Represented domestic and international insurers in multi-site environmental coverage cases.