Insurance Administrative, Investigative, and Regulatory Matters
Jackson Walker has been engaged in Texas politics since the early 1900s, and our involvement has continued throughout the firm’s history, with several of our partners and lobbyists regularly involved in legislative initiatives. Jackson Walker has a long history of representing insurance companies before the Texas Department of Insurance. In fact, one of the founding partners of our Austin office, Fred Werkenthin served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Texas and Division Chief for the Securities and Corporate section which made him a pivotal player in shaping today’s Insurance Code. We have built on this legacy in serving as trusted advisors to our clients who seek actionable advice regarding regulatory compliance. Our regulatory expertise includes a broad range of capabilities from assisting with compliance and licensing matters to drafting legislation to lobbying on behalf of insurance industry clients.
We serve our clients both as business advisors and regulatory and legislative strategists. We represent parties before the Texas Department of Insurance in administrative matters and in connection with the licensing of brokers and agents.
Insurance companies, lenders and stakeholders look to us in connection with supervisory orders and receiverships before the Texas Department of Insurance. We work with receivers and guaranty associations on developing and implementing restructuring plans. Our knowledge of the regulatory landscape provides a base from which to assist with even the most complex insolvencies.
We know that experience and relationships make a difference in helping our clients put their public policy strategies into action. Our insurance regulatory team consists of attorneys with years of experience in the technical aspects of insurance and includes a former administrative law judge who during his eighteen years as an ALJ presided over a variety of insurance matters, including Texas Department of Insurance enforcement actions against insurance companies and individual agents, rate-setting cases (title insurance and otherwise), and windstorm claim disputes, handled by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, or Texas Fair Plan. Our legislative team’s reputation for candor, sound judgment, and effective advocacy is unparalleled and the team has longstanding relationships with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House, Comptroller, and key members of the Texas House and Senate.
- Administrative hearings
- Antitrust compliance
- Insolvency and guaranty fund issues
- Civil investigative demands
- Enforcement and compliance
- Market and regulatory monitoring
- Open records requests
- Premium tax and retaliatory tax
- Rate hearings
- Statutory reporting
- Regulatory compliance and examinations
- Obtained reversal of trial court’s declaratory judgment and obtained ruling that installment payment fees were not subject to the filing requirements of the Texas Insurance Code.
- After damaging cross–examination of hostile witnesses at an administrative hearing, negotiated a favorable settlement with insurance regulators of statutory claims against an out–of–state third–party administrator before the ruling was issued.
- Represented a major lender in the Texas Department of Insurance led receivership and liquidation of a large multi-state property and casualty carrier including the negotiated release of insurance company assets to the lender.
- Represented insurance companies in responding to Civil Investigative Demands.
- Represented insurance companies seeking to prevent disclosure of their information in response to open records requests submitted to the Texas Department of Insurance by way of open records requests.
- Advised insurers regarding regulatory requirements under Texas Insurance Code.
- Advised clients regarding whether their proposed business activities would require licensure under the Texas Insurance Code.
