lawley

Press Release:

Lawley, an independent family-owned insurance broker and employee benefits firm, is proud to partner with Sgroi Financial creating a new financial planning firm, Sgroi Lawley Group, LLC. With a combined 118 years of expertise, this partnership merges two multi-generational businesses committed to serving families and businesses in the Western New York community. 

This partnership was orchestrated by Sgroi Financial President Patrick J. Sgroi and Senior Vice President John G. Clouden and Lawley Principal Chris Ross.

For over 65 years, Lawley's goal has been to protect assets and minimize risk to help their customers avoid financial hardship. For 25 of those years, the employee benefits strategy has been focused largely in the 401(k) space with the goal of creating better outcomes for retirees and providing plan governance to plan sponsors. Now, with the addition of the Sgroi team, they are able to offer holistic financial planning to each of their clients.

This merger follows a strategic partnership formed in 2016 between Sgroi Financial and Lawley to expand product offerings including property and casualty insurance and Medicare solutions to Sgroi Financial clients. Sgroi wealth management clients will continue to work with the same financial advisor, the same support staff, and all aspects of investment accounts will remain unchanged, including account numbers and investment products. 

“We want to make it clear that this merger is not based on our desire to scale back or retire, rather it has energized us even more to continue in our growth trajectory,” says Patrick J. Sgroi, Sgroi Financial President. 

“All of us at Sgroi Lawley Group, LLC are excited about our new partnership and the benefits it will bring our clients,” says John G. Clouden, Sgroi Financial, Senior Vice President.

“We're excited to partner with Sgroi Financial LLC and expand our product offerings and our footprint throughout the northeast,” says Chris Ross, Lawley Principal.

“As Sgroi holds similar values to Lawley, we’re proud to bring them on board and excited to work together to provide the best service to all clients,” says Bill Lawley, Jr., Lawley Principal.

Press Release:

Lawley, an independent family-owned insurance brokerage and employee benefits firm, continues its growth across the Northeast by welcoming Phil Scaffidi, Employee Benefits Consultant in Buffalo, Joe Moran, Insurance Advisor in Florham Park, New Jersey, and Carl Belizaire, Insurance Advisor in Buffalo. These additions aid in several growth initiatives across the agency.

Skilled in creating meaningful relationships with clients, Scaffidi will serve as an advisor providing employee benefit solutions. Prior to Lawley, Scaffidi held leadership roles in business sales in the Western New York community for 10+ years. He will use his previous software industry experience to help clients navigate the various benefits administration solutions that Lawley offers. He holds a Life, Accident, and Health License, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Nazareth University. Lawley is also growing their Property & Casualty sales division by adding Joe Moran to Florham Park and Carl Belizaire to Buffalo. Both Moran and Belizaire will provide creative solutions to meet the needs of their clients and help them understand the various business insurance solutions Lawley offers. 

With nearly a decade of experience, Moran brings vast industry expertise, which will enable him to effectively work with clients and streamline the insurance evaluation and implementation process. Moran was previously a Property & Casualty Vice President and held several roles in the insurance industry. 

Moran was inducted into the Top Producer’s Club, is a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC), a Construction Risk Insurance Specialist (CRIS), and earned a bachelor’s degree from The State University of New York at Fredonia.

Bringing his skillset to the sales team, Belizaire will transition from Surety Specialist to Insurance Advisor serving the Buffalo community. Through his previous role, Belizaire built strong relationships with agents, brokers, and carriers, and assisted with strategies for Lawley's surety and bond business. Belizaire possesses diverse leadership experience and will continue to develop relationships with clients to minimize their cost of risk. Belizaire holds a NYS Property & Casualty Brokers License, a NYS Notary License, and earned degrees from Medgar Evers College and Baruch College.

With 15+ locations and continued growth efforts across the footprint, Lawley protects assets and minimizes risk to help customers avoid financial hardship. Lawley provides more than 50 specialized services, including business insurance, home and auto insurance, Medicare insurance coverage, retirement planning, wealth management, and employee benefits administration.

“We’re excited for Phil and Joe to join our team and welcome Carl to the sales division. Their industry knowledge and expertise makes our team even stronger and will greatly benefit our clients in WNY and across our entire footprint,” says Mike Lawley, Principal of Lawley.

Press Release:

Lawley, an independent family-owned insurance broker and employee benefits firm is proud to partner with Connecticut-based Shoff Darby Companies, Inc., Shoff Darby Insurance Agency. This partnership aids in Lawley’s continued efforts to provide the best property and casualty, captive, and employee benefits services to clients in the tri-state area and is the largest merger to date for the agency.

This partnership was orchestrated by Shoff Darby Companies Chairman William Pierz and President Matthew Roberts and Lawley Principals William J. Lawley, Jr., Christopher D. Ross, and Michael R. Lawley. 

For over 65 years, Lawley has protected assets and minimized risk to help their customers avoid financial hardship. As the largest merger to date, Lawley will add four locations and 75 employees in Connecticut.

This expansion will increase services available to clients, providing business insurance, home and auto insurance, Medicare insurance coverage, wealth management, and employee benefits administration. 

Founded in 1887, the Shoff Darby Insurance Agency has assisted its clients with personal insurance, business insurance, and specialized in construction, transportation, and captive insurance. Providing guidance and striving to help clients “make the best decision for themselves, their family, and their business”, the Shoff Darby Insurance Agency holds the focus of “We take care of our customers like family”. 

Folding into Lawley gives Shoff Darby the ability to use the national resources of a Top 100 Insurance Broker while maintaining independence. The Shoff Darby team will also have access to Lawley’s dedicated practice groups, which offer expertise in high-profile business segments.

“We were determined to remain part of an independent, community-oriented organization, and we could not be happier for our staff, our clients, and our communities that we were able to forge this partnership with Lawley,” says William Pierz, Chairman of Shoff Darby Companies, Inc.

“Partnering with Shoff Darby, an agency that holds similar values to Lawley, aids in our continued efforts to expand our footprint throughout the tri-state area,” says Chris Ross, Lawley Principal.

“We’ve been able to see continued growth through 2023. With our partnership and biggest merger to date with Shoff Darby Companies, we are positioned to continue to offer the best services to our clients throughout our footprint,” says Mike Lawley, Principal.

“We are passionate about helping one another, working as a team, and growing together while supporting our clients and our communities,” says Lawley Principal, Bill Lawley, Jr. “We hope that individuals, families, and business clients will experience the positive impacts of the expanded services across our footprint and will trust in Lawley for years and even generations to come.”

“This merger with Lawley creates one of the most dynamic insurance brokerages in the country. I’m extremely excited for our clients, employees, and our communities to reap the benefits from this incredible partnership,” says Matt Roberts, Shoff Darby President.

Press release:

Lawley, for the second year in a row, has been named a Best Place to Work in Insurance  in the annual list by the magazine "Business Insurance."

The company was honored in the medium-sized category (250-999 employees). The award recognizes employers for their outstanding performance in establishing workplaces where employees can thrive, enjoy their work and help their companies grow.

Lawley, a family-oriented company, has built its culture around an internal wellness program focused on both physical and mental health benefits. The company offers a number of perks to employees, including:

• Annual Employee Appreciation Week
• On-site biometric screenings and complementary yoga classes
• College scholarship programs and paid trainings/certifications
• Summer hours

"We pride ourselves on investing in our most valuable asset – our people. Our success as a company is due to our ability to offer remarkable service and build relationships, which ultimately starts with treating our employees well,” said Bill Lawley, Jr., managing partner at Lawley. “We make it a top-priority to provide the resources, culture and environment to ensure time spent at work is rewarding, educational and fun.”

Lawley is deeply committed to the communities they serve. Social responsibility is a priority and has direct, positive impact on those communities. Lawley employees spend a significant time throughout the year giving back locally.

In addition to being named a Best Place to Work by Business Insurance, Lawley has been recognized as a Top Work Place by the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and named to Buffalo Business First’s Best Place to Work list for more than eight years.

“Being named to Business Insurance's list of the Best Places to Work in Insurance for 2017 demonstrates that Lawley has built a culture in which employees are supported and engaged, which benefits their customers and the employers’ financial performance,” says "Business Insurance" Publisher Peter Oxner.

Best Places to Work in Insurance is an annual feature that lists the agents, brokers, insurance companies and other providers with the highest levels of employee engagement and satisfaction.

Harrisburg, Pa.-based Best Companies Group identifies the leading employers in the insurance industry by conducting a free two-part assessment of each company. The first part is a questionnaire completed by the employer about company policies, practices and demographics. The second part is a confidential employee survey on engagement and satisfaction.

The program divides employers into the categories of small, 25-249 employees; medium, 250-999 employees; and large, 1,000 or more employees.

This year’s report features 75 companies of various sizes, from 25 employees to more than 4,000. The ranking and profiles of the winning companies were published in the magazine and online at BusinessInsurance.com.

Lawley is a privately-owned, independent regional insurance firm specializing in property, casualty and personal insurance, employee benefits and risk management consulting and ranked among the 100 Largest Insurance Brokers in the United States, according to "Business Insurance" magazine.

For more than 60 years, Lawley’s team of more than 375 associates have developed customized property, casualty, surety and benefits insurance programs for businesses and municipalities of all sizes along with personalized protection for individuals and their families.

Press release:

For the 13^th consecutive year, Lawley was ranked by Insurance Journal as one of the Top 100 largest commercial lines agencies in the United States. The company continues to rise on the list, this year moving up two spots to number 43.

“We strive to build and maintain the trust of our clients by providing recommendations that protect them through property & casualty insurance, employee benefits, risk management solutions or personal insurance. To see those efforts contribute to our growth is quite rewarding and we’re very pleased to see the progress we make each year,” said Bill Lawley Jr., Managing Partner of Lawley.

The annual list is ranked by total commercial lines property/casualty revenue for 2016 and comprises only those agencies that are privately-owned firms whose business is primarily retail, not wholesale. All information in the report was garnered from voluntary online submissions from agencies and brokerages.

Lawley was also recently recognized by Business Insurance as the 54^th largest insurance broker in the United States, based on 2016 brokerage revenues.

To read the full list of Property & Casualty Insurance Brokers, click here.

About Lawley

Lawley is a privately-owned, independent regional insurance firm specializing in property, casualty and personal insurance, employee benefits and risk management consulting and ranked among the 100 Largest Insurance Brokers in the United States, according to Business Insurance magazine. 

For over 60 years, Lawley’s team of more than 350 associates have developed customized property, casualty, surety and benefits insurance programs for businesses and municipalities of all sizes along with personalized protection for individuals and their families. Lawley is consistently recognized as one of the Best Places to Work by Buffalo Business First.

Headquartered in Buffalo, Lawley has branch offices across New York in Amherst, Batavia, Fredonia, Melville, Purchase, and Rochester along with Darien, Conn., and Florham Park, NJ. To find out more, visit lawleylnsurance.com.

Press release:

Lawley, a Top 100 independent insurance broker in the United States according to Business Insurance, has earned the On Your Side^® Food Certification designation from Nationwide Insurance. This first-of-its-kind training program is designed to familiarize agents with the unique risks and insurance needs of businesses involved in food processing and manufacturing.

The broker has an office in Batavia.

As a company that insures businesses engaged in all stages of the food chain from the farmer to the processor, Nationwide has recognized this is a niche that requires specialized expertise. During training, agents hear from subject matter experts on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and fleet vehicle safety and also get the latest information on workers compensation, product recall and other issues faced by these business segments.

“We’re excited that Lawley completed this certification program,” said Bill Fritts, Lawley’s Batavia branch Partner. “We’ve made a commitment to help protect food processing and manufacturing businesses with the highest levels of professionalism and service. This certification shows that our agency is committed to staying in front of changing needs, helping protect them now and into the future.”

The designation is intended to help food processing and manufacturing businesses recognize agents who have made a commitment to understanding the complex risks faced by their industries. Only agents who successfully complete the program are awarded the designation.

“Nationwide created the food certification program to provide additional education and resources to insurance agents who have made a commitment to protecting businesses in the food chain,” said Dirk Pollitt, VP of agribusiness sales for Nationwide. “We’re proud of the agents who complete the program and are excited about the level of service that businesses can expect from partnering with Food Certified agents.”

About Lawley

Lawley is a privately-owned, independent regional insurance firm specializing in property, casualty and personal insurance, employee benefits and risk management consulting and ranked among the 100 Largest Insurance Brokers in the U.S., according to Business Insurance magazine.

For more than 60 years, Lawley’s team of more than 350 associates have developed customized property, casualty, surety and benefits insurance programs for businesses and municipalities of all sizes along with personalized protection for individuals and their families. Lawley is consistently recognized as one of the Best Places to Work by Buffalo Business First. 

Headquartered in Buffalo, Lawley has branch offices across New York in Amherst, Batavia, Elmsford, Fredonia, Melville and Rochester along with Darien, Conn., and Florham Park, NJ. To find out more, visit lawleyinsurance.com