Led by former Ohio Insurance Commissioner, four-lawyer team strengthens firm’s financial services sector regulatory capabilities in time of increasing industry demand
Squire Patton Boggs is pleased to announce the addition of a nationally recognized insurance regulatory team to the firm’s Financial Services Practice. This insurance regulatory team will be based in the firm’s Columbus office and will continue to service clients around the world. The team is led by Mary Jo Hudson, former insurance commissioner of the State of Ohio, who is joined by Doug Anderson and Sue Stead, who both previously served in senior roles with the Ohio Department of Insurance, and Holly Wallinger. The team arrives from Bailey Cavalieri, where they formed the Insurance Regulatory Practice Group, which Ms. Hudson chaired.
The appointments follow the arrival in the Columbus office of Patricia Hatler, former Chief Legal and Governance Officer for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, who joined the firm in May 2016, and Pat Dugan, former General Counsel of Medical Mutual of Ohio, who returned to the firm in 2014.
“We are pleased to be able to attract such a high caliber group to the firm. The next several years are expected to be times of significant change in the regulation and structure of the insurance industry. Mary Jo and her team amplify our existing insurance practice. They will enhance our ability to provide high-quality, value-added service to clients,” commented James Barresi, who leads the Squire Patton Boggs global Financial Services Practice.
With decades of experience in the insurance industry, Ms. Hudson and her team focus on regulatory compliance and enforcement matters, transaction structuring and support, and product and rate filing applications, along with advising on key public policy and innovation matters facing industry leaders today. In addition to providing this service in the life and property and casualty segments of the industry, they also have deep experience in the health insurance segment of the industry.
Ms. Hudson served as the 46th Director of the Ohio Department of Insurance and as Cabinet member to Ohio Governor Ted Strickland from 2007 to 2011. As Director, she served as the Chair of the Ohio Health Care Coverage and Quality Council, as Chair of the Interstate Insurance Product Regulatory Commissions and on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Insurance Commission (NAIC). Earlier in her career, she served as General Counsel for the Office of the Ohio Insurance Liquidator. Her practice focuses on product innovation, transactional matters, operational compliance issues, and defense of multistate regulatory examinations. Ms. Hudson is a well-respected civic leader in Columbus, where she is a member of the Columbus Board of Education and served on the Columbus City Council. She is a member and trustee of the Association of Life Insurance Counsel, member of the Association of Women Directors, former member and audit committee member of the Board of Directors for AIG’s Chartis, Inc. (now AIG Property Casualty, Inc.) and a former member the American Academy of Actuaries Board of Trustees.
An experienced and revered insurance regulatory lawyer, Mr. Anderson is the former Chief Policy Officer and Attorney for the Ohio Department of Insurance, where he worked with Ms. Hudson on challenging public policy and regulatory matters and served as the lead for Governor Strickland’s health care reform efforts. Mr. Anderson counsels global, national and regional insurance companies in matters involving insurance law and regulatory compliance, with a focus on health insurance regulation, innovation and reform. Mr. Anderson holds a number of leadership positions in leading healthcare-related organizations, including serving as an Executive Committee Member of The Health Policy Institute of Ohio and The Health Care Collaborative of Central Ohio, and is a member of the Insurance and Health Care Committees of the Ohio State Bar Association and America’s Health Insurance Plans. Mr. Anderson is also an adjunct professor of law at Capital University Law School.
With more than 26 years of experience focusing exclusively on insurance regulation, Ms. Stead spent 15 of those years as a senior regulator, serving as Assistant Director for Market Conduct, Fraud & Enforcement and Agent Licensing, as well as a department attorney, for the Ohio Department of Insurance. As a regulator, she led several committees at the NAIC, and was a key architect of the Market Conduct Annual Statement. Ms. Stead has advised insurers on national regulatory compliance matters, including product innovation, licensing, operational compliance matters, distribution issues, complex transactional matters, and international and federal issues for over a decade. She sits on the Board of the Federation of Regulatory Counsel, is a Board Member and Chair of the CBS Insurance Agency and is the past Chair of the Insurance Regulatory Examiners Society Foundation (IRES). She also serves as an adjunct professor at Capital University Law School where she teaches insurance law. Ms. Stead is a member of the Association of Compliance Professionals, the American Bar Association Insurance Regulation Committee (and former Chair) and the Columbus Bar Association. She holds a CPCU designation from the American College.
Ms. Wallinger supports the team with regulatory defense matters, regulatory compliance and legislative and regulatory research efforts. Ms. Wallinger previously served in the Office of the Ohio Attorney General where she was an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Ohio, defending statewide-elected officeholders in state and federal litigation, and previously, she represented corporate clients in contract and employment matters at a boutique litigation firm in Columbus, Ohio. Ms. Wallinger served as law clerk in the US District Court, Southern District of Ohio and as staff attorney to Franklin County, Ohio common pleas court judge. With decades of writing experience, both in and outside the legal profession, Ms. Wallinger brings significant communication skills in her work on behalf of clients.
“The addition of Mary Jo and her team builds on our successful recruitment of Pat Hatler last summer and deepens significantly our ability to provide in-depth insurance and healthcare advice and counsel to clients locally, regionally and nationally,” said Alex Shumate, managing partner of the Columbus office. “Given their deep roots in Ohio and civic leadership in the local community, this team will fit in seamlessly.”
Ms. Hudson commented, “We are delighted to be joining Squire Patton Boggs. At a time when the insurance industry in both the US and around the world is experiencing paramount regulatory transformation and operational evolution, Squire Patton Boggs’ breadth and depth will enable us to offer the full range of sophisticated legal expertise to our clients.”