The People Behind Davies: Interview with Don Lederer regarding Johns Eastern merger

Following the exciting news of Davies’ acquisition of Johns Eastern, we sat down with Donald Lederer, CEO of Johns Eastern to discuss the combined advantages and enhanced service offerings the acquisition brings. Read on to learn the distinct benefits that clients will gain due to this strategic merger.

Can you tell me a little about your role and what you do?

I’ve been with Johns Eastern for close to 39 years, I will hit my 39th anniversary in June 2023, so my entire career has been with Johns Eastern. I started as a claims adjuster from day one and moved up through the company and became the CEO in January of 2008. Now, with the purchase by Davies, I’m still in my role at Johns Eastern but I’m also now the CEO of TPA services for Davies in the U.S. I oversee Littleton, Johnson Claims Service, DCS, and Johns Eastern. So, four companies that Davies has bought over the last couple of years and each business has unique attributes that we’re all bringing together. Johnson Claims Service and Littleton’s specialty is in transportation, Johns Eastern’s specialty is in workers’ compensation, property, and liability and DCS specializes in workers’ compensation and property/casualty as well.

How do you personally think that the merger with Davies fits with the Johns Eastern current growth strategy?

Our growth strategy for the last several years has been to expand our geographical footprint of both our TPA business and Field Adjusting services. The Davies purchase is going to allow us to achieve that goal more quickly because we’ll have more scale and more ability to go out and reach new clients. So, it fits well within what Johns Eastern was planning to do by itself. It’s just going to accelerate the process.

I also think one of the fits, in terms of our growth strategy, comes from an internal perspective. Johns Eastern has always been about promoting from within and offering employees broader opportunities for their career. The Davies connection for us is just going to elevate that. It’s going to open so many new doors for individuals that they would not have had before the purchase, which I think is going to be a huge positive for our people and for our company. The culture of Davies and the culture of Johns Eastern fit as close together as two cultures could, which really stood out. The culture of Johns Eastern is all about family, all about promoting from within, all about listening to the ideas that employees have and seeing how it can make the company stronger. Caring about our employees as individuals and not just as professionals has always been a part of the Johns Eastern culture and I’m finding the same within Davies.

The values that we hold at Johns Eastern also mirror and parallel what Davies values as a company. Realizing that Davies had also bought several other companies that were similar to Johns Eastern alluded to, on a much broader scale, that Davies cares about their people, want to provide opportunities for good careers and want to prioritize building relationships, which is what we try to do here. I’m a firm believer that prioritizing these values lead to growth and opportunity.

What are the combined strengths of Davies and of Johns Eastern?

By pulling what is already in Davies’ TPA services, incorporating and combining with Johns Eastern gives us increased scalability and a much broader geographical reach. The size of Johns Eastern by itself prevented us from attracting certain types of clients because they needed a TPA with more resources and a larger geographical presence. Davies gives us that added geographical presence, and also gives us the ability to scale up where and when
needed. We’re going from a company of 300 people to Davies of about 1600 in the U.S. So, it gives us that immediate presence of being a major player versus a small regional company.

What specifically can insurance clients expect with the stronger service proposition?

The clients that we will reach are going to find that Davies is able to provide a wide range of services including TPA for multiple lines of coverage, Field Adjusting services, Actuarial, and Underwriting Inspections. The services needed by carriers and self-insured entities can be found here at Davies.

How do you foresee the increased access to advanced technological tools serving Johns Eastern clients?

I’m impressed by the emphasis Davies places on technology and innovation. Combining the strengths of the Johns Eastern technology team with Davies will strengthen our service offerings and help our clients meet their goals and objectives. Tools that increase efficiency in claims handling, strengthening the customer service provided, expediting payments, and reducing the time necessary to resolve claims will result in a better claims experience for our staff, our clients, and for parties involved in the claim.

Learn more about Johns Eastern joining Davies.