NEW YORK, June 25, 2018: Morgan Lewis today announced that it will soon welcome Scott Fischer, formerly the highest-ranking insurance regulatory official in New York State, to the firm’s insurance industry team focusing on restructuring and bankruptcy issues involving insurance companies, as well as insurance transactional and regulatory compliance matters. Mr. Fischer will formally join Morgan Lewis in our New York City office on July 9.
As executive deputy superintendent for insurance at the New York State Department of Financial Services since 2016, Mr. Fischer led a unit supervising 1,700 insurers with assets exceeding $4.2 trillion. Prior to taking that post, he was the special deputy superintendent at the New York Liquidation Bureau, where he managed a staff of more than 200 employees overseeing the liquidation proceedings of more than 25 domestic insurers, handling thousands of claims eligible for New York insurance security fund coverage, and distributing more than $500 million in claim payments and estate dividends.
“I am delighted to welcome Scott, who has been the top regulator in one of the most active and important insurance oversight offices in the United States,” said Firm Chair Jami McKeon. “His arrival will immediately enhance our ability to serve insurers, as well as other corporate clients, on regulatory, restructuring, and transactional matters across the country.”
A litigator and corporate lawyer in private practice before entering government service, Mr. Fischer also spent three years at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 2009 to 2012. He then joined the New York Liquidation Bureau as deputy general counsel before being promoted to special deputy superintendent.
“Scott’s multifaceted familiarity with the insurance industry, his management background overseeing large government agencies, and his experience in private practice makes him a valuable resource to clients seeking our advice in a wide variety of matters,” said Jonathan Bernstein, leader of Morgan Lewis’s finance practice. “He is a great addition to our finance team.”
In addition to working from New York, Mr. Fischer also is expected to assist Morgan Lewis’s team in Hartford, which works extensively on matters involving troubled insurers.
“Scott is a deeply experienced practitioner in insurance insolvency proceedings, rehabilitations, and restructurings,” said Morgan Lewis Hartford partner Harold S. Horwich, who has worked widely in the area of receiverships and restructuring transactions involving insurers. “He is an ideal fit for our elite insurance insolvency practice.”