Overview
Pat Hughes serves the insurance industry as a public policy advocate, regulatory attorney and strategic advisor. Pat focuses on state and NAIC regulatory and policy issues as well as federal agency and legislative challenges, while counseling on and advocating on issues related to international insurance standard setting. Pat’s diverse background enables him to find solutions across the administrative agency, legal and legislative arenas, and design results-driven strategies for public policy engagement. He helps lead the firm’s federal insurance regulatory and public policy practice, which represents insurance companies and major associations on the industry’s most complex and pressing emerging issues.
Senior Insurance Regulator and Attorney
Pat served 10 years as a senior regulator and attorney with the State of Illinois. His assignments included:
- General Counsel to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which then included the Division of Insurance.
- Chief Legal Counsel to the Office of the Governor, where he oversaw regulatory affairs and directed legal representation for 45 executive branch agencies and several hundred attorneys and outside counsel.
- Special Deputy Receiver and CEO with the Office of the Special Deputy, administering the receiverships of 47 companies in liquidation, rehabilitation and conservation. While Special Deputy, Pat chaired NAIC working groups on critical issues, including Dodd-Frank implementation and complex receivership oversight.
Other Experience
Before joining Faegre Baker Daniels, Pat led the U.S. insurance regulatory practice and co-led the international insurance regulatory services team for a global consulting firm. He has also practiced litigation and commercial transactions, starting his career in commercial litigation at Kirkland & Ellis.
Services & Industries
Credentials
Bar Admissions
Illinois
District of Columbia
Court Admissions
Illinois Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Clerkships
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Hon. James Alesia, 1993-1995
Education
DePaul University College of Law
J.D. with honors, Order of the Coif, DePaul Law Review (executive editor), Journal of Health and Hospital Law (case note editor) (1992)
Georgetown University
A.B. (1987)
Experience
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June 2017 1 min readRetirement Services Company Taps FaegreBD for Lobbying and Public Policy AdviceInsurance Financial Services Government & Regulatory Lobbying & Public Policy
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March 2017 1 min readLife Insurance and Annuity Company Develops DOL Fiduciary Duty StrategyInsurance Government & Regulatory
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March 2016 1 min readU.S. Insurer Evaluates International Regulatory DevelopmentsInsurance Financial Services Government & Regulatory
Insights & Events
Insights
Other Perspectives
- Suitability, Best Interest and the Regulation of Investment Advice
ACLI Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., October 2018 - Recovery Planning: Context, Proposals and Perspectives
Stakeholder Event on Recovery Planning and Resolution, International Association of Insurance Supervisors, Basel, Switzerland, September 2018 - Observations on Creditor Hierarchy
Technical Workshop on Insurance Resolution, Insurance Cross-Border Crisis Management Group, Basel, Switzerland, September 2018 - Regulatory Update
Panelist, 2018 ACLI Life Insurance Conference - Impact of Federal Developments on State Insurance Regulation
2018 IAIR Insurance Workshop - Election 2016 Revisited
Panelist, 2017 ACLI Compliance and Legal Sections Annual Meeting - Election 2016 and Insurance Regulation
Panelist, 2016 ACLI Compliance & Legal Sections Annual Meeting - Fearless Predictions: Resolution Issues and a Covered Agreement Will Take Center Stage in 2016
Co-author with Charlie Richardson, NOLHGA Journal, Vol. XXII, No. 1, February 2016 - The Two Paths to Reinsurance Collateral Reform
Federation of Regulatory Counsel “Hot Topics” CLE Seminar, November 2015 - New ISDA Protocol and IRMA 711
Co-presenter, NAIC Receivership & Insolvency Task Force, November 2014 - Resolution Planning: New Developments and Insurance Implications for Living Wills
Co-presenter, International Association of Insurance Receivers, November 2014 - The Federal Reserve and U.S. Insurance Regulatory Perspective on Corporate Governance and Enterprise Risk Management
Panelist, NAIC Society of Financial Examiners Breakfast Series, November 2014 - Translating Lehman: Lessons Learned and Implications for Significant Insurance Receiverships
IAIR Technical Development Workshop, May 2013
Leadership & Community
Pro Bono
- Secured political asylum for family of four from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
- Represented abuse victim in child support collection efforts
Professional Associations
- Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals
- International Association of Insurance Receivers — Director
- District of Columbia Bar Association
- National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws — Past Commissioner
- Exchequer Club of Washington, D.C.
Civic Activities
- Chicago Debate Commission (not-for-profit promoting debate programs in urban high schools) — Past Board Chair and Director
- Georgetown University Alumni Admissions Program — Alumni Interviewer
- YMCA — Adventure Guides, Past Expedition Navigator
- Wilmette, Illinois — Past Village Trustee and Past Fire/Police Commissioners Board
- City Club of Chicago
Honors
- Chicago Debate Commission — Seymour Simon Award (recognizing extraordinary and lasting contributions to the Chicago Debate League), 2016