Senate Confirms Wrynn As Insurance Superintendent

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Supt. James J. Wrynn

NEW YORK, NY (09/11/2009)(readMedia)-- The New York State Senate has unanimously confirmed Governor David A. Paterson's nomination of James J. Wrynn as the 40th Superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department. Wrynn has served as Acting Superintendent since August 20.

"I am pleased that the Senate moved quickly to confirm Jim Wrynn as Superintendent of Insurance. Jim's experience as an insurance lawyer and his expansive involvement in government prepare him well for this position. He will be an asset to the Department and the State in this critical time as the nation moves forward with health insurance reform and financial services regulatory reform," Governor Paterson said."I am honored to have been confirmed as Superintendent of the Insurance Department. I thank Governor Paterson for affording me this opportunity to serve the people of New York," Wrynn said.

"I look forward to working with the Department's superb staff to focus on the special requirements of the local New York insurance marketplace, including all of its insurance companies, agents, brokers and consumers who together help this important industry prosper and grow here. There are areas we must and we will address, including medical malpractice, bond insurers and the life settlement industry. I will work diligently and innovatively to enhance New York's reputation as the financial capital of the world, so that we can continue to provide good jobs with good wages for New Yorkers.

"I believe consumers must always be fully protected and informed about their insurance choices. We will work to ensure that New Yorkers have access to the health, auto, life and other insurance products they need at a fair price, that they are fairly treated at all times, and that the promises made when people buy insurance are kept when they need to use it."

Wrynn joined the Department from the New York State Insurance Fund, where he was unanimously chosen as the Executive Director of by its Board of Commissioners on April 22, 2009. Prior to that, he spent 25 years as a trial attorney focusing in the areas of life, accident and health insurance, property and casualty insurance, general liability insurance, insurance coverage disputes, professional malpractice, and product liability.

Wrynn was a founding partner in the law firm of MacKay Wrynn & Brady, LLP, which specializes in the area of civil litigation and appellate practice, with strong emphasis on insurance law. He has an extensive legal background in insurance, counseling agents, brokers, risk retention groups and insurance companies in most lines of insurance and excess insurance, reinsurance, self-insurance and captive insurance. His experience includes knowledge of insurance, accounting and tax issues affecting entities doing business both on and offshore. Wrynn began his legal career in 1982 in the Manhattan office of McCormick, Dunne & Foley as a legal intern.

Wrynn is admitted to the federal and state courts in New York and New Jersey and the Supreme Court of the United States. He has designations as both an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and Associate in Captive Insurance (ACI).

Wrynn is a member of the New York and New Jersey State Bar Associations, the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, and is a board member of the Catholic Lawyers Guild - Queens County. Previously, Wrynn served on the Board of Managers and the Grievance Committee of the Queens County Bar Association, as past-president of the Brehon Law Society and as an officer in the Flushing Lawyers Association. A former member of the Network of Bar Leaders, he also served as a board member of the New York City Economic Development Corp. and the New York City Business Relocation Assistance Corp.

Wrynn has been very involved in the Irish Community and in the peace process in Northern Ireland. This included meetings, conferences and dealings with the Irish Ambassador, the Consulate General, the British Under-Secretary for Northern Ireland and numerous other parties both here and abroad. He was part of the delegation that accompanied President William Clinton to Ireland in December of 2000 and the delegation that accompanied the New York State Attorney General in March of 2005. More recently, he traveled with New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to Ireland in 2007.

A life-long resident of Queens, Wrynn earned an accounting degree from St. John's University College of Business Administration and graduated from St. John's University School of Law in 1984. While at St. John's, Wrynn was a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the National Honor Society in Economics, and was named to Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. Wrynn continues his close relationship with the law school, presently serving on the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association.

Active in his community, Wrynn served on Community Board 13, as a member of the St. Kevin's Parish Council, as vice president of the Floral Park Community Council and on the Board of Directors of the Community Advocacy Center - Preventive Law for the Elderly. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade Committee, one of the largest Memorial Day Parades in the country, and was the 2006 "Man of the Year."

Wrynn lives in Douglaston with his wife, Maura, and their three children.

The Superintendent of Insurance is responsible for the monitoring and regulation of more than 1,000 insurance companies with total assets exceeding $4 trillion. The position also includes oversight responsibility for more than 200,000 brokers, agents and financial intermediaries and the management of more than a thousand Department employees. The Superintendent also acts as Receiver of insolvent insurance companies through the New York Liquidation Bureau.

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