Higginbotham has made its growing transportation specialty practice a full division, expanding its ability to invest in staff, services and industry initiatives tailored to transportation. The change comes as trucking companies, freight brokers and insurers face legal, insurance and operating pressures.
The company plans to address those concerns at its biennial ReFuel Leadership Conference, scheduled for Oct. 27–28, 2026, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The conference will bring industry leaders together for sessions on legal, insurance and operational issues.
Conference To Examine Broker Liability
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, has added uncertainty for brokers. The decision exposed brokers to a risk of being held responsible for harm resulting from accidents involving carriers they select.
“After Montgomery, transportation brokers need to think more carefully about their own exposure,” said Brent Allred, Higginbotham Managing Partner and Transportation Division Leader. He said the ruling may affect brokers’ insurance, requirements for trucking companies and, ultimately, shippers whose freight is moved.
Allred said the consequences could extend throughout the freight chain. The conference will include a session on the ruling and its potential impact, with Joe DiPaola of U.S. Marine Insurance Group speaking.
Other sessions will address claims, compliance and the changing legal environment. A panel with leaders from the Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama trucking associations will discuss how neighboring states can work together on issues affecting an industry that routinely crosses state lines.
Fuel, payroll and insurance are among the largest individual costs for trucking companies, the company said, and all are under strain. Motor carriers also navigate legal and regulatory environments that change as they cross state lines.
Division Builds On Regional Growth
The transportation practice began at Memphis-based Lipscomb & Pitts, which partnered with Higginbotham in 2020. Allred, based in Chattanooga, took leadership of the specialty practice in March 2021 and focused on building a service and support team.
Fourteen employees joined within Allred’s first 10 months leading the practice, more than doubling the team at that time. The group continued adding specialized personnel and expanding across the Southeast and Midwest before becoming a division in 2026.
The division now has 31 team members with a combined 372 years of transportation insurance experience. Higginbotham said division status gives the team greater ability to invest in transportation-specific resources, including a customized version of its Day Two Services®.
Under the division’s Day Two model, claims and loss prevention professionals come from transportation backgrounds. They can tailor their approach to each client’s size, insurance and operational needs.
“Transportation insurance is a highly specialized business,” said Higginbotham Chairman and CEO Rusty Reid. Reid said the team understands the distinct claims, legal environments, insurance markets and operating risks involved.
ReFuel Aims To Connect Industry Groups
Allred described ReFuel as a place for motor carriers, insurance carriers and others across the industry to address shared concerns. “The more we can sit down with each other and talk about the issues that affect us all, the better prepared we’ll be for what comes next,” he said.
The conference is set for Oct. 27–28, 2026, in Chattanooga. Registration information is available through Higginbotham’s announcement.
