In the spring of 1999, Max Bernstein and Bob Nelson formed Nelson & Bernstein, LLC, an insurance and risk management consulting firm. Bob, Max and their team of professionals bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the service of their clients’ insurance and risk management needs. They have particular expertise in the areas of real estate, technology, retail, financial services and food processing.

Bob has held a number of executive positions with leading insurance brokerage firms throughout his 35 year career in the industry. For 21 years, he served as a Senior Vice President with London-based Sedgwick, where he was recognized as a national resource on real estate accounts. In the mid-70s, he spent five years as a Senior Vice President in the Risk Management and Insurance Brokerage Division of Coldwell Banker.

For 25 years, Bob has contributed his time, energy and expertise to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). He holds a BA in Business Administration from Ohio State University and the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) professional designation.

Max Bernstein has 48 years experience in the insurance business, 30 years as a broker and 18 as a consultant. He began his career in Cincinnati, Ohio with a family firm, moved to San Francisco in 1963 and subsequently became a partner with Dinner Levison, the largest privately owned brokerage in the western United States. He decided to do consulting after Dinner Levison was acquired by a large brokerage that was eventually acquired by Marsh.

His insurance experience includes brokering and consulting for large real estate, retail, food manufacturing and distributing, financial institutions, clothing manufacturing and high tech firms.

Max graduated from Case Western Reserves University in 1953 with a B.S. in industrial management and received a B.A. in business administration from the University of California, Berkeley in 1954. He lives with his wife and family in Mill Valley, Ca.

Before Joining N&B in 2000, Julie had 25 years of brokerage experience with industry giants like Dinner Levison, Sedgwick James (now Marsh, Inc.) and most recently, Acordia Insurance Services. At Acordia, Julie was a Vice President and commercial underwriting manger. Currently, she serves as in-house risk management consultant for a national real estate investment/development firm and consults for several other large real estate owners.

Julie holds a B.S. degree from Golden Gate University in Insurance and Risk Management and the CPCU designation.

Leila had 25 years experience in the risk management and insurance field before joining N&B in 2004. As a Senior Vice President at Willis her duties included account management for the office’s largest client. Over the course of her tenure at Willis, she worked with a variety of clients, including manufacturers, property owners, and professional services firms.

Most recently, Leila was the manager of the Workers Compensation and Vocational Rehabilitation Office at the University of California, Berkeley. She began her career at the University as the Acting Risk Manager and dealt with the different academic departments to assist in furthering their instructional and research mission. Currently, Leila has consulting assignments with a number of clients including a financial institution and real estate owners.

Leila received her education in Beirut, Lebanon. She received her CPCU designation in 1991.

Joan joined Nelson & Bernstein in 2009 after 30 years in the insurance and risk management industry. Her most recent experience was as a Director for Equity Risk Partners, an insurance broker specializing in private equity due diligence and program placement. Earlier, Joan was a Senior Vice President at Marsh, specializing in large account casualty insurance. Joan’s client’s included technology, retail and pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

Joan was the Vice President of Risk Management at Safeway before becoming a broker. She was responsible for the insurance and self insurance programs at the national retail grocery chain. Before Safeway, Joan held risk management positions at Lucky Stores and Pacific Telesis. Joan began her career in claims.

Joan has an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and her undergraduate degree is from the University of Southern California. Joan has her CPCU and ARM designations.