DCLTA Officers and Board Member Information
Alaine Donovan (President)
Alaine Belongia Donovan is Vice President, Virginia and District of Columbia Counsel for Fidelity National Title Group. She has a career of over 35 years in the real estate and title insurance industry. Ms. Donovan has lectured extensively about various aspects of real property law and title insurance issues, including programs approved for Virginia Mandatory Continuing Legal Education for Attorneys, the Virginia Land Title Association, the District of Columbia Land Title Association, and the Virginia Continuing Education Insurance Board for licensed title insurance agents. She is a member of the Real Property and Probate Sections of both the District of Columbia Bar and the Virginia State Bar. She has served in various officer capacities of the Virginia Land Title Association and is currently the immediate Past-President of the District of Columbia Land Title Association. From 1993 to 2009, Ms. Donovan was appointed to serve on the Virginia Continuing Education Board by the Virginia Insurance Commissioner, and held the position of Vice Chair for several years.
Ms. Donovan is admitted to the practice of law in the Commonwealth of Virginia and in the District of Columbia. She graduated with distinction from George Mason University in 1982, and received her juris doctorate from George Mason University School of Law in 1986.
Michael N. Russo Jr. (Vice President)
Mike Russo has practiced law in the District of Columbia and Maryland for over twenty years. He is a trial attorney who has tried cases in each county in Maryland, in all local and federal trial courts, bankruptcy courts and appellate courts in the District of Columbia and Maryland
Mr. Russo is a partner with the law firm of Council, Baradel, Kosmerl and Nolan in Annapolis, Maryland. Council, Baradel is a 28 lawyer general practice law firm which represents companies, insurers and individuals in Maryland and the District of Columbia. His practice includes 5 attorneys, and paralegals and support staff who represent all those in the title industry in both running and sell their businesses and in real estate title litigation representing title insurers, settlement companies, owners and lenders and owners/investors who are trying to clear title for insurance or investment purposes.
Mr. Russo and his firm are members of the DCLTA, DC Bar Association, Committee on Real Estate; Maryland Bar Association, Committee on Real Estate; Maryland Land Title Association; American Bar Association, Section of Real Estate, committees on Title Insurance and Real Estate Litigation and Torts and Insurance Practice Section, committee on Title Litigation and the American Land Title Association.
Leslie O. Kostelecky (Secretary/Treasurer)
Leslie has worked in and around the title industry since 1992 and has extensive experience in the settlement process from order entry through policy preparation and remittance, as well as a special expertise in TitleExpress and reconciliation issues. She holds a title license in VA and MD and worked as a settlement processor, title company owner, auditor and industry consultant for 15 years prior to joining First American Title Insurance Company in 2004.
Ricardo Lasso (Previous President)
Born in Panama City, Republic of Panama. Raised in the Caribbean. Lived and studied in Panama, Venezuela, Miami & Washington (DC).
BA – 1992 – International Relations and Political Science Florida International University, Miami, FL.
JD – 1995 – Washington College of Law, The American University, Washington, DC Worked for various local (DC) firms (1995 to 2002) Partner – Lasso & Lasso (2002 – Present)
Associations: Member of the District of Columbia Bar Member of the Maryland State Bar Association
President of the DC Land Title Association Committees: Water & Sewer Authority and Membership
Executive Board Member (Parliamentarian) of the Metro DC Chapter of NAHREP – National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals
Past President & Current board member – DC Chapter of the Florida International University Alumni Association.
Avid runner – 19 marathons completed. Active soccer player and United States Soccer Federation certified referee (Grade 7).
Kevin D. Anderson (2012 Board of Directors)
Kevin D. Anderson, Esq. has nearly twenty years of government relations, legal, and real estate title experience in Washington, D.C. representing a variety of interests including private and public foundations, energy and oil and gas issues and for the past eight years as a title attorney handling residential and commercial real estate transactions for Avenue Title Group. Before joining Avenue in 2004, Anderson served for 3 years as Director of Government Relations and Public Policy for the Council on Foundations, a Washington based association of 2,000 grantmaking foundations including such foundations as Gates, Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Kellogg, American Express, Gap and J.P Morgan Chase, to name a few. In his position at the Council, Kevin was responsible for conceiving tax and budget strategies and launching programs that resulted in an ongoing dialogue between the Council and policymakers on Capitol Hill, in government agencies and with state and local regulators.
Prior to the Council, Anderson represented the private club industry, serving as Vice President of Legal and Government Relations for the National Club Association, a national trade association serving the business, legal and legislative needs of private, social, recreational and athletic clubs. In addition, he has extensive knowledge of the energy industry serving as Director of Federal Relations for the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association from 1998-2001 and as Director of Tax and Budget Policy for the Independent Petroleum Association of America from 1995-1998. Kevin began his Washington career working on Capitol Hill in the office of Representative Frank Lucas. Prior to coming to Washington, he was in private practice with an Oklahoma law firm, specializing in corporate, real estate and oil and gas law.
Anderson received his undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1990 and graduated from the University of Oklahoma School of Law in 1993 after studying for a semester at Oxford University in Oxford, England.
Richard N. Harvey (2012 Board of Directors)
Richard N. Harvey, Esq. is currently Vice President and Maryland/DC State Manager for Old Republic National Title Insurance Company in Columbia, Maryland. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Florida in 1990 and received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1996. Rick has served on the Board of the Howard County Bar Association, as Chairman of the HCBA’s Real Property Section, and on the Maryland State Bar Association Real Property Section Council. In addition to serving on the DCLTA Board of Directors, Rick also serves as a Director on the Maryland Land Title Association Board of Directors, is a member of the MLTA Legislative and Finance Committees, and is a member of the MSBA Real Property Section Commercial Discussion Group.
Stuart A. Kruger (2012 Board of Directors)
Stuart A. Kruger is currently DC Counsel for Stewart Title Guaranty Company as well as underwriting counsel for transactions in Virginia and Maryland. In addition, he is also Division Manager for Asset Preservation, Inc., a national 1031 Qualified Intermediary and a subsidiary of Stewart Title. Prior to joining Stewart Title, Mr. Kruger had a 20-year career as a commercial real estate attorney in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, Mr. Kruger represented investors, lenders and developers in all aspects of commercial real estate throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
Mr. Kruger graduated from the University of Virginia in 1977 with a B. S. in Commerce (concentration in finance). He also obtained his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1982.
Janet McIntosh (2012 Board of Directors)
Janet McIntosh formed, owned and has operated Array Title & Escrow, LLC since January 2005 and is located in Georgetown.
Ms. McIntosh has substantial legal expertise in complex distressed real estate and title matters. She handles purchase, sale, refinancing and loan closings on both commercial and residential properties, as well as resolves property tax issues, TOPA issues, landlord and tenant matters, foreclosures, and mechanics lien enforcement matters.
Prior to joining Array Title & Escrow, LLC, Ms. McIntosh was in private practice specializing in federal and state tax law, including criminal and civil defense controversy work against the Internal Revenue Service and state taxing authorities. She appeared before the US Tax Court on matters of tax code and regulation interpretation, innocent spouse relief, and IRS administrative appeals.
Ms. McIntosh was associated with Frank & Associates, P.C., now known as IRS Pros, Inc., and with Combined Properties, Inc. in Washington, DC where she served as law clerk in the General Counsel’s Office. Ms McIntosh received her B.A. degree in political science from Boston University and her Juris Doctorate from the University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law, where she finished second in her class and graduated magna cum laude.
She is admitted to practice before the Maryland State Bar, District of Columbia Bar, The District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Court of Appeals of Maryland, US District Court of Maryland, and the US Tax Court. She is also a member of the American Bar Association, the Real Estate Housing and Land Use Section of the District of Columbia Bar, the District of Columbia Land Title Association and the Women’s Bar Association.
Brad Runyan (2012 Board of Directors)
Bradley has been practicing law since 1981. His undergraduate degree with Honors is from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has been in the title industry since 1978 when he abstracted and examined titles by day for Minnesota Title in Minneapolis, Mn., and went to law school at night at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Eventually he started to do closings at Minnesota Title for residential and commercial properties as well as underwrite the transactions. After a few years in private practice handling real estate and title insurance matters with a local sole practitioner in Minneapolis, he received an offer to work nationally with the then known Safeco Title Insurance Company in Los Angeles, California. In 1985, Safeco offered him a regional position in Baltimore handling underwriting and claims from New York to North Carolina. Safeco was bought by Chicago Title in 1987 and Bradley became Assistant Regional Counsel for Chicago Title and split his time between Baltimore and Fairfax Virginia.
In 1989 Bradley became a Senior Associate with Conroy, Ballman & Dameron Chrted, eventually managing two offices and title insurance litigation. In 1993 he started working in downtown DC with First American Title, developing his settlement practice. He subsequently worked as an independent settlement attorney with Heritage Title, then a manager with Sentinel Title now known as North American Title until presently an equity partner at Stewart Title Group.
Bradley is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia West Virginia, Massachusetts and Minnesota. Bradley is a member of the Minnesota, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia and Massachusetts Bar Associations; a member of the District of Columbia Land Title Association and Maryland Land Title Association. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Montgomery County and Anne Arundel Bar Associations. Bradley is on the Board of Directors for the DC Land Title Association, The Hearth Foundation, The Trust for Architectural Easements, The Dupont Circle Village Project and The Bank of Georgetown.
Michael Segal (2012 Board of Directors)
Michael Segal is a Vice President and Commercial Counsel for Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company. Michael became affiliated with Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company in 2003 as an agent after opening a title agency located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2007, Michael was recruited to relocate to Washington, DC to join Commonwealth Commercial Services.
Recent transactions that Michael has worked on include: Portfolio Loan modification which consisted of more than two dozen office buildings located in the DC area and on the West Coast; the acquisition and financing of a major waterfront development site located in Washington, DC; the acquisition of an urban District of Columbia shopping center by virtue of a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure; and the construction financing for a mixed use project including office, hotel, retail, and residential components.
Michael has published several articles on aspects of commercial real estate transactions, which include the following:
Michael A. Segal and Earl L. Segal. “Negotiating a Lease for the Leverage-Challenged Tenant.” The Real Estate Finance Journal (Spring 2003): 1–5.
Earl L. Segal and Michael A. Segal. “Putting the ‘Stop’ Back in Estoppels.” The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (April 1, 2004): 4.
Earl L. Segal and Michael A. Segal. “Dealing with Real Estate Sales Contracts For Multiple Properties.” The Practical Real Estate Lawyer (January 2005): 51–62.
Michael graduated from the Pennsylvania State University in 1995 with a Bachelors of Science in International Business and Management with a focus on Japanese language and received his Juris Doctor from Widener University in 2001. He is a member of the Pennsylvania State Bar Association.
Benjamin M. Soto (2012 Board of Directors)
Mr. Soto is an attorney who practices Real Estate Transactions and Bankruptcy. He is the owner of Premium Title & Escrow, LLC, which is a full service title company servicing DC, MD and VA. In addition, he is the owner of Paramount Development, LLC, a commercial development company focused on the acquisition and ground-up development of commercial buildings and hotels in Washington DC.
Mr. Soto is on the Board of Director’s of EagleBank, a community bank with 15 branches in the Washington DC region, the DC Land Title Association and the DC Public Education Fund.
Mr. Soto is also a former Vice Chair of the Board of Real Property Assessment and Appeals, a former Board member of the National Bar Association and a former Board member of the DC Sports & Entertainment Commission, which developed the National’s Baseball Stadium.
Mr. Soto is a member of the DC Bar, Pennsylvania Bar, MD Land Title Association, DC Builders Industry Association and the DC Chamber of Commerce.
He is married to Lori A. Soto; they have two children, Danielle and Alexander and they live in Ward 4 of Washington, D.C.
