Stephanie Duchene is a partner in the Corporate & Financial Services Department, Co-Chair of the Firm's Insurtech practice and a member of the Insurance Transactional and Regulatory Group. She is based in Los Angeles and San Francisco. She 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 market conduct and financial examinations and investigations; counseling on compliance with licensing, claims handling, marketing and advertising rules; acquisitions, mergers and demutualizations of insurance companies; and advising on the development of new insurance products from initial concept through regulatory approval and into the market.
Stephanie regularly counsels insurtech companies, traditional carriers and non-insurance entities on the intersection of insurance law and innovation in the industry. She advises clients on all lines of insurance, including accident, life and health, property and casualty, title as well as surplus and excess lines.
Stephanie is ranked as a leading insurance lawyer by Chambers USA (2023).
Experience
Prior to joining Willkie in 2021, Stephanie was a partner at Mayer Brown.
- Chambers USA, Insurance: Insurer (Band 3), California, 2022- 2023
- Editor of The Regulator, a publication of the Insurance Regulatory Examiners Society (IRES), 2014–present
- President of the Western Chapter of the Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals, 2016
- Vice President of the Western Chapter of the Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals, 2015
- Insurance Regulatory Examiners Society (IRES)
- Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals (AICP)
- Member of the Board of Directors for Rainy Day Pennies, Inc.
- Member, Los Angeles Bar Association
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Speaker, All Chapter Education Day, Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals, May 2021
Insurance Regulatory
- Advising insurance carriers, intermediaries and insurtech companies on regulatory compliance, governance, licensing, financial and market conduct examinations, Insurance Holding Company Act, privacy and data securities laws and current and prospective digital distribution matters
- Advising insurance industry clients on a wide array of issues arising in the regulatory landscape that have developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, including coordinating with state regulatory department inquiries and complying with various updates to regulatory requirements
Insurance Joint Ventures, Insurtech and Commercial Insurance Arrangements
- Assist mid- and late-stage insurtechs and/or strategic (re)insurer clients in building and expanding their commercial operations, including structuring, contract and regulatory work to establish program management, managing general agent, fronting insurance, reinsurance and distribution arrangements
- Advise on compliance with state insurance regulatory laws and coordinate with state regulators, including with respect to products, distribution, formation and/or licensing of agents, captives and insurers/reinsurers
Insurance Mergers and Acquisitions
Various acquisitions and dispositions of insurance companies, producers, third-party administrators and managing general agents, including*:
- General Motors in its acquisition of OnStar National Insurance Company (formerly ASIC)
- Centerbridge Partners in its acquisition of a controlling stake in Title Resources Guaranty Company, Realogy’s title insurance underwriter
- NORCAL Mutual Insurance Company in its demutualization and acquisition by ProAssurance Corporation
- Next Insurance in its acquisition of AP Intego
- CNO in its acquisition of DirectPath, LLC
- MetLife in its acquisition of PetFirst Healthcare, LLC
* Stephanie advised on these matters prior to joining Willkie.
Credentials
Education
University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, J.D. (magna cum laude), 2004 University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 2001
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
United States District Court, Central District of California United States District Court, Eastern District of California United States District Court, Northern District of California United States District Court, Southern District of California