Insurance is an industry that is overseen and regulated primarily at the state level.  Each of the fifty states and the District of Columbia have insurance departments or agencies that oversee that state’s insurance business.  The states are members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (the “NAIC”). The NAIC has various committees and working groups that address issues of importance to the industry.  In addition, there are federal acts and laws that apply to the insurance industry, including the Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLB”) governing privacy.  The federal and state regulatory agencies interact with the industry on a regular basis and review and approve a variety of industry matters.  Listen to this podcast to learn more about those interrelationships and how the industry and regulators interact at NAIC meetings and in general.

Featuring: Geoff Baker, General Counsel, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC)
Cate Paolino, Director of Public Policy, NAMIC

As NAMIC’s general counsel, Geoff Baker is responsible for the oversight and development of NAMIC’s legal and regulatory compliance resources, products and services for member companies. In this role, Geoff monitors and researches insurance regulations, laws, bulletins and notices affecting the property and casualty industry; drafts legal analysis for member companies on compliance-related topics; creates research surveys on insurance laws and regulations; and develops webinars, articles, practical resources and other guidance on insurance compliance-related topics. Geoff also provides legal advice and counsel to the management and staff of NAMIC and its affiliated entities. Prior joining NAMIC, Geoff represented insurers in coverage and bad faith litigation matters and served for 17 years as general counsel and chief compliance officer for a group of property, casualty, and life insurers. He is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and the University of Idaho College of Law and has earned the CPCU, FLMI, AIRC, CCP and MCM insurance designations.

Cate Paolino serves as NAMIC’s Director of Public Policy and is responsible for providing the association and its membership with key policy expertise and analysis on legislative and regulatory issues of interest to the property/casualty insurance industry at the state, federal, and international levels.

She holds an MPA from Brown University, an EMBA from Suffolk University, and a law degree from the University of Connecticut.

Daniel A. Cotter is Attorney and Counselor at Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC. Dan focuses his practices in a variety of areas of corporate law and litigation, primarily on insurance law, including complex business disputes and counseling, employment law, corporate transactions, corporate governance and compliance, and cybersecurity and privacy law. His clients benefit from his diverse professional experience, which – in addition to his years serving as trusted outside counsel – includes positions as a corporate accountant and an in-house attorney.  He spent almost 17 years in-house at insurance organizations, where he focused on insurance, regulatory, technology, IT, compliance and transactional matters. Dan served as President of The Chicago Bar Association for the 2014-2015 bar year and is former Chair of The Young Lawyers Section of The CBA.

Dan was an adjunct professor at The John Marshall Law School, and has taught Insurance Law, Accounting for Lawyers and SCOTUS Judicial Biography. Dan graduated summa cum laude from The John Marshall Law School and received his B.A. in Accounting from Monmouth College, magna cum laude. Dan is a frequent writer and presenter on various substantive topics, including technology and privacy, and in 2019, his book, “The Chief Justices,” was published.