Stewart Bolsters National Commercial Services Underwriting Group

August 23, 2022

Stewart Title recently hired Wilhelmina Kightlinger as deputy chief underwriting counsel for its national commercial services group.

“Stewart has for years been a national leader and trusted partner when it comes to underwriting,” said Kightlinger. “As commercial business continues to grow post-pandemic, Stewart is focused on strengthening our underwriting capacity and expanding into markets where we’ve previously been underrepresented. I’m excited about the opportunities Stewart has to become a premier player and look forward to partnering with seasoned experts up and down the East Coast.”

Prior to joining Stewart, Kightlinger spent 13 years at Old Republic Title, most recently as general counsel for the company’s national commercial title services division.

She joins Don Wade, chief underwriting counsel and Shawn Elpel, deputy chief underwriting counsel on Stewart’s national commercial services underwriting team.

“We are excited to have someone of Wilhelmina’s caliber join the team,” said Jim Gosdin, chief underwriting counsel for Stewart.

Among her extensive publications and honors, Kightlinger’s articles have appeared in editions of the Florida Bar Journal as well as Probate and Property, a publication of the Real Property, Trust, and Estate Section of the American Bar Association (ABA), the latter of which awarded her the 2017 Excellence in Writing Award for Best Overall Article. In 2008 she was named one of the top women in commercial real estate by the Florida Real Estate Journal. She received the Robert C. Scott Memorial Award from the Florida Bar Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Section of the ABA in 2018.

“Over the past few quarters, we have focused on bringing in top talent and investing more into our commercial underwriting team to grow what is already a strength of ours at Stewart,” said Ryan Swed, head of national commercial services for Stewart. “The addition of Wilhelmina adds years of underwriting and real estate experience to our leadership team. We will look to her to continue establishing Stewart as the go-to commercial underwriter on the East Coast.”


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