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Tilleman ventures into gray area of insurance law

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//September 22, 2016//

Tilleman ventures into gray area of insurance law

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//September 22, 2016//

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Morgan Tilleman - Foley & Lardner (Staff Photo by Kevin Harnack)
Morgan Tilleman –
Foley & Lardner (Staff Photo by Kevin Harnack)

Insurance law may not sound like a field with room for being innovative, but that’s always a goal of Morgan Tilleman’s practice.

It used to be easy to separate a health care provider and an insurance carrier. Nowadays, though, that’s not always the case.

Helping clients find their way in that gray area is one of the things Tilleman does best.

“We know what the rules are, but figuring out how the rules apply to new business models and new service delivery platforms is a challenge,” he said. “One of the things I like about it is it’s like solving a puzzle each day.”

Tilleman, a lawyer at Foley & Lardner in Milwaukee, says the thoughtfulness clients have shown in reinventing their businesses has proved an inspiration in his own work.

“I have to raise myself to their level every day,” he said.

But Tilleman emphasizes that he could not have been successful without the clients, colleagues and mentors who helped him learn the ropes of insurance law. He came out of law school expecting to work in securities law but instead landed in insurance law, a field few law students know of and explore.

“I think it’s critical for young lawyers to embrace their ignorance,” he said. “It would be terrible to try and pretend to know things about the industry and try to fool coworkers or clients in to thinking I knew things.”

Tilleman also does volunteer legal work, helping low-income, transgender Wisconsinites change their names to match their identities.

“It’s a cool thing to be able to help those clients meet a real-life need, demystify the legal system and make it approachable,” he said.

Outside his legal work, Tilleman is likewise always looking for ways to break out of routine.

All summer, he raced sailboats on Lake Michigan for fun. Tilleman also enjoys traveling. So far, he’s been to 45 states and 29 countries. Soon he’ll be crossing off his 30th country: Ireland.

“I hate going to one place more than once,” he said. “There are so many places to go.”

Tilleman also enjoys reading, and his reading list consists of a lot of fiction — all of it in printed form.

“I work entirely on the computer,” he said. “It’s a relief both physically and mentally to look at something else when I’m outside of the office.”

 

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