Kara Baysinger, Matthew Gaul and Stephanie Duchene
Mayer Brown announced today that a prominent team led by partner Kara Baysinger has joined the firm, significantly strengthening its global insurance capabilities while adding depth to the firm’s growing Corporate & Securities practice in California and New York.
As a partner based in Mayer Brown’s San Francisco office, Ms. Baysinger will serve as the co-leader of the US Insurance Regulatory and Enforcement group. She comes to Mayer Brown with partners Stephanie Duchene in Los Angeles and Matthew Gaul in New York. The team previously practiced at Dentons, where Ms. Baysinger was a co-leader of the firm’s global Insurance Sector.
“We are thrilled that Kara, Matt and Stephanie have chosen to join Mayer Brown,” said Larry Hamilton, the co-leader of Mayer Brown’s US Insurance Regulatory and Enforcement group. “The addition of this exceptional group of lawyers is a significant milestone in the ongoing enhancement of our service offerings for our insurance industry clients, particularly in regulatory and enforcement matters, as well as the growing area of insurtech.”
“In considering potential moves, Mayer Brown emerged as the obvious choice, with its strength in advising the insurance industry, deep client relationships and collaborative culture,” said Ms. Baysinger. “Stephanie, Matt and I are excited to join a growing team focused on serving the insurance industry. We look forward to working with our new colleagues to advise clients on their most complex regulatory, enforcement and transactional matters.”
“This team adds an important component to our insurance capabilities and substantially broadens our multidisciplinary team of lawyers worldwide,” added Mayer Brown Chairman Paul Theiss. “Kara is highly sought-after by clients to advise insurers on their most complex and mission-critical business and regulatory issues based on her successful career in private practice and years spent in-house at insurance companies, and Stephanie and Matt are also recognized for their skill and savvy in regulatory and enforcement issues. We look forward to integrating our new colleagues into our premier insurance capabilities.”
In addition to the arrival of this talented group, Mayer Brown has in the past year attracted a succession of highly regarded laterals around the world, including Jeremy Hill in London, Paul Chen in Northern California, and Steven Tran and Brian McKenna in Hong Kong to bolster its corporate transaction and regulatory capabilities in the global insurance industry. These recent additions advance the firm’s strategy to be the premier law firm of choice to the global insurance industry and to expand the firm’s practice related to insurance M&A and corporate finance, fintech/insurtech, regulatory and enforcement matters.
Brief biographical information for each of the three new partners follows.
Kara Baysinger (San Francisco and Chicago) – Ms. Baysinger has vast experience representing national and international insurance and reinsurance companies, insurance-related service companies, insurtech companies and other financial services entities, e-business enterprises and state governments in market conduct and sales practices, including negotiation and resolution of single and multistate examinations, investigations and enforcement actions. Additionally, she advises clients on regulatory relations and strategy, innovation and digital transformation, licensing, marketing, market conduct, regulatory approvals, transactional matters, reinsurance, cybersecurity, privacy, and product and market development issues. Ms. Baysinger began her career working in-house for insurance companies. She is also the co-author of “Courageous Counsel: Conversations with Women General Counsel in the Fortune 500,” a groundbreaking look at the paths of women into the ranks of General Counsel.
Stephanie Duchene (Los Angeles) – Ms. Duchene focuses her practice on representing insurance companies, producers and other insurance licensees and insurance-related service providers in complex and sensitive regulatory matters, including negotiating and resolving significant single and multi-state examinations and investigations, counseling clients on compliance with licensing, claims handling, marketing and advertising rules, and advising clients on the development of new insurance products from initial concept through regulatory approval and into the market. She advises clients on all lines of insurance, including accident, life and health, property and casualty, as well as surplus and excess lines. Additionally, Ms. Duchene regularly counsels insurtech companies, traditional carriers and non-insurance entities on the intersection of insurance law and innovation in the industry.
Matthew Gaul (New York) – Mr. Gaul represents insurance companies and other financial institutions in complex regulatory matters and government investigations. He is an expert on New York Insurance Law and has extensive experience with market conduct examinations, life insurance product regulation, financial guaranty law, insurance product innovation and financial services regulatory reform and modernization. Mr. Gaul frequently advises clients on insurance and reinsurance transactional matters. Before returning to private practice, Mr. Gaul served for nearly seven years in a variety of leadership positions in New York state government. He was deputy superintendent for life insurance in the New York State Insurance Department (now the Department of Financial Services), where he oversaw regulation of the financial solvency and sales practices of the state’s life insurers. Mr. Gaul also served as chief of the Investor Protection Bureau in the New York State Attorney General’s Office.
