Brenton Ver Ploeg, born in Cody, Wyoming, received his B.S. from Northwestern University in 1969 and his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 1973, where he was a Note and Comment editor on the Hastings Law Journal. He is admitted to the Bars of Florida, California and the District of Columbia and to practice in Florida's Middle and Southern Districts of the U.S. District Courts, and the Fifth and Eleventh U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals. He was with Shutts & Bowen for more than twenty years and is a seasoned trial attorney with extensive commercial and insurance litigation experience, including the representation of more than twenty disability insurers in both individual and group cases. A well-known lecturer and author on insurance bad faith claims handling, unfair insurance practices, and extracontractual damages, he concentrates on complex civil matters, emphasizing representation of policyholders in all varieties of insurance coverage and bad faith disputes, including ERISA and appellate practice. He also serves as corporate counsel to two not-for-profit organizations dedicated to educating the public about science and the scientific method.