Meet Our Team
John O’Connell
Employee Benefits Advisor
John O’Connell, CEBS, CLU, CPBS is an employee benefits advisor who specializes in the hospital and health care sector. With over 40 years of experience, John brings a strategic perspective and unique expertise to the Healthcare Liability Team. John is also a founding partner of Alera Group.
Dean Schink, CIC, LIC
Senior Vice President
Specialization: Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Physician Groups, Other Professionals
Dean has dedicated his career in the area of professional liability and business insurance for physicians, dentists and attorneys since 1989. Dean manages the team in our MI office and regularly consults on medical professional liability insurance for several local healthcare systems and physician organizations.
Sapan Shah, MD, JD
Partner
Specialization: Physician Groups, Private Equity Firms, Collaborative Organizations
Sapan is a physician, attorney and insurance expert. Sapan’s medical and legal backgrounds give him unique insight into the legal issues facing healthcare practices. Based in Chicago, he provides expert, trustworthy representation and advocacy for hundreds of clients around the country. For private equity clients focused on healthcare firms, Sapan implements innovative programs that dramatically increase accretive value and coverage without sacrificing the service that the portfolio companies need.
Timothy Sheridan, JD
Locum Tenens/Staffing, Physician Groups
Tim Sheridan has been providing insurance and risk management solutions to the healthcare industry for 20 years. With national expertise, Tim leads HCL’s Texas office and specializes in locum tenens/staffing organizations and physician groups.
EXPERT EDUCATION
Events and Webinars
Employee Benefits
The Compliance Pathway Q2
Alera Group's quarterly employee benefits compliance roundup will help you stay current on the latest national regulatory developments impacting employers.
May 14, 2026 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
Register Here
Employee Benefits
Benchmarking That Drives Decisions: Why Averages Mislead — and What Best-in-Class Data Reveals
A clear, data-driven view of the 2026 employee benefits landscape grounded in benchmarking results.
June 16, 2026 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
Register Here
Employee Benefits
GLP-1s at Scale: Why Weight-Loss Drug Decisions Are Now a Financial Strategy
A GLP-1 decision framework plus scenarios.
July 21, 2026 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
Register Here
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Insights
Property and Casualty
AI Isn’t Liable for the Mistake. You Are.
Artificial intelligence is powerful. It’s also wrong more often than people want to admit.
If you use AI to support or deliver professional services, any mistake it makes is still your responsibility. Not the software’s. Not the vendor’s. Yours.
April 1, 2026
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Property and Casualty
Identity hijacking is surging. Here’s what leaders need to know.
Cyber incidents across our client base have been sharper, faster and more costly this year. Even organizations with strong controls are being hit in ways that look very different from past attacks.
March 13, 2026
Find out more Property and Casualty
AI-Powered Cyber Attacks, Why Yesterday’s Defenses Aren’t Enough.
The widespread availability of AI technology, combined with the ease of manipulating video calls, makes phone and Zoom calls susceptible to exploitation by threat actors.
February 2, 2026
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Are you prepared for 2026? Property and Casualty Trends Uncovered
The sixth annual Property and Casualty Market Outlook from Alera Group sets the stage for how organizations can recalibrate their risk strategies in 2026. Built on thousands of data points — including a nationwide survey of insurance company partners and wholesale intermediaries — this report delivers actionable insights for insurance buyers, risk managers and business leaders.
December 17, 2025
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