Stewart Title named Wilhelmina Kightlinger as deputy chief underwriting counsel for its national commercial services group. She joins Chief Underwriting Counsel Don Wade and Deputy Chief Underwriting Counsel Shawn Elpel on the national commercial services group leadership team.
“We are excited to have someone of Wilhelmina’s caliber join the team,” Stewart Chief Underwriting Counsel Jim Gosdin said in a release.
Prior to joining Stewart, Kightlinger spent 13 years at Old Republic Title, based in Tampa, Fla., most recently as the general counsel for the national commercial title services division. She graduated summa cum laude with a J.D. from Florida State University College of Law.
“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,” National Commercial Services Head Ryan Swed said. “The addition of Wilhelmina adds years of underwriting and real estate experience to our leadership team.”
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, the latter of which awarded her the 2017 Excellence in Writing Award for Best Overall Article.
“Stewart has for years been a national leader and trusted partner when it comes to underwriting,” she said. “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.”