Insights
J.S. Held Acquires Shechter & Everett to Expand Forensic Accounting Capabilities for Family Law Disputes in Florida
Read More
For Jan Inguagiato, the U.S. Army was a great opportunity to use her undergraduate degree in civil engineering to expand her knowledge of construction while developing leadership skills unavailable to most young engineers. She served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the rank of Captain, working on projects that led to her career as a delay and quantum expert in builder’s risk insurance, where Jan is engaged in multi-million-dollar claims and disputes throughout North America. In addition to her expert work, Jan also serves as the Chief of Staff to J.S. Held’s CEO, leading operations efforts for the firm.
Read more of our conversation with Jan below.
My father and grandfather were both civil engineers, so I’m a third-generation civil engineering graduate, all from Clarkson University in upstate New York. They both also served in the military. My grandfather was in the Army Air Corps and served in the Aleutian Islands during WWII. My father joined the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) in college, was later commissioned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and served in Korea during the Vietnam War.
I grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, and on Saturdays when I was young, my father would take me to construction sites where he worked. Later, when I attended Clarkson University, I followed in my dad’s footsteps by joining ROTC during my undergraduate years.
I briefly started down a path to becoming a helicopter pilot. When you’re graduating from college and going into the military, you have to request a branch. I was trying to decide between aviation and civil engineering, and my dad steered me toward the latter. I was commissioned as a second lieutenant and, like my dad, joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
When I graduated, I initially went to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as an instructor for Officer Basic Training and spent the next eight years in the Army stationed in Missouri, Washington, Texas, and Virginia. I experienced 9/11 as an active duty officer, and all that entailed. Although I never had to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan, my husband did for our oldest daughter's first year. I did have the opportunity to experience deployments to places like Thailand and Greenland for humanitarian construction missions, building schoolhouses and an emergency temporary bridge.
As part of my time in the Army, I attended the Engineer Captain’s Career Course, during which the Army allowed me to attend Missouri University of Science & Technology, and earn my master’s degree in engineering management.
I enjoyed the challenge of the Army, which, in many ways, is like J.S. Held; your job is always changing, with new opportunities being presented for growth and learning.
I left the Army in 2004 after eight years for family considerations. Both my husband and I were on active duty in 2002 when the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan began, and our oldest daughter was born the same year. In the Army, at the time, after your child is four months old, both military parents are deployable. We were concerned we might both end up deployed to a combat zone, and therefore, I made the decision to pursue new career opportunities outside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
After my military service, I worked for AECOM, an architecture and engineering firm, for three years, where I managed both design and construction staffs on a top-secret facility. I joined J.S. Held in 2007 and have enjoyed the last 18 years here.
As a senior Builder’s Risk expert, I have to understand various types of buildings and structures, whether they are commercial, residential, or industrial. I also have to understand the scheduling and related processes for each one, so that when an insurance loss occurs, we can go in and assess how long and how much it will take to repair it. I have managed projects in both the U.S. and Canada, which include everything from conventional buildings to light rail systems, wind farms, power plants, bridges, and highways.
I am based in Charleston, South Carolina, and handle expert work across the United States and Canada. As the Chief of Staff, I have the unique opportunity to work with all of our practices across all the countries in which J.S. Held operates.
Leadership and the ability to organize and project manage. For clients, this means building relationships as their trusted expert and ensuring that they have a quality work product when they need it. For J.S. Held as a whole, the ability to understand all of the varied aspects of the business and establish relationships across all of the practices and support functions to help facilitate operations and projects.
Similar to the military, no two assignments at J.S. Held are the same. There is always something new and different. I started with the company in Washington, D.C., then moved to Charleston, then to Florida, and then back to Charleston. I love the people and the culture of J.S. Held.
I wouldn’t be where I am today without the experience of being on active duty in the U.S. Army.
The Army excels at teaching leadership from your very first assignment out of college. As a new 2nd Lieutenant, I led a team of 36 people with several million dollars’ worth of construction equipment. I learned how to manage people, take things in stride, and learn new things quickly. When you are in the Army, you essentially have two full-time jobs. You have your technical engineering knowledge, but you also have a full-time job as a soldier. You have to know how to lay a minefield, blow things up, and keep yourself and your soldiers qualified on your weapons. At the same time, you are responsible for people. You get a broad exposure to humanity. I have bailed soldiers out of jail, dealt with car repossessions, and even done some marriage counseling. You are much more involved in a person’s life than in the civilian sector, which can be challenging when you are young, and most of the people are older than you.
In addition, you change jobs in the Army about once a year. You might stay in the same place, but you won’t have the same job, so the military teaches you how to just get the required task done.
That translates directly to J.S. Held, especially the insurance aspect of our business. At J.S. Held, you’re always looking for new and interesting ways to attack the challenge you are trying to solve. Even if you’ve built 100 apartment buildings, there is going to be something different about every single one. No two projects are ever the same. That variety is what makes this job compelling.
Our family loves to travel, camp, and spend time in the outdoors. We have an Airstream and have done all types of travel with our girls, one of whom is in grad school for Physical Therapy, and the second will be finishing up college for Graphic Communications this year. We also enjoy home improvement projects. I sew, and my husband owns his own carpentry business.
To view Jan’s professional bio and contact details, click here.
Visit the Culture & Careers page on our website to learn more about J.S. Held, including our Military Hiring Program. There, you can also find additional stories about team members from across the firm.
Understanding the recurring patterns behind solar PV construction disputes across the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa....
How human factors research bridges user experience (UX) and product safety in product development....
How courts in recent Canadian and US construction disputes have scrutinized, and sometimes limited, expert opinions on the professional standard of care....