Tom Maida focused his practice on assisting clients in highly regulated industries to execute critical strategic initiatives, beginning with the planning stage, moving on to the development of effective transactional frameworks, and ultimately securing regulatory approval of the transactions. His clients included some of the world鈥檚 largest insurance companies as well as many leading regional insurers.
Tom played pivotal roles in the development of legal strategies for a number of complex business transactions, including the formation of insurance companies, group funds, and health maintenance organizations; mergers and acquisitions of insurance companies and health maintenance organizations; the conversion of group funds to mutual insurance companies; and the demutualization of insurers. He also led the formation of mutual insurance holding company systems in highly complex business transactions.
A significant portion of Tom鈥檚 practice was also devoted to advising company boards of directors regarding such matters as board duties and responsibilities, corporate governance, conflicts of interest, board and management succession planning, and executive compensation. In addition, he routinely monitored groups of insurance company representatives to insure compliance with state and federal antitrust laws.
Tom served as the managing partner of the Tallahassee office (1998-2019) and as a member of the firm鈥檚 Management Committee (2011-2017).
Representative Experience
- Led team of outside counsel that assisted Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida in developing the plan and obtaining regulatory approval to transform the Florida Blue group of companies into a mutual insurance holding company system.
- Led the successful defense of the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) in litigation, brought by the workers鈥 compensation claimants bar, which alleged NCCI鈥檚 ratemaking processes violated various Sunshine and Public Records Law requirements. Nat鈥檒 Council on Compensation Ins. v. Fee, No(s). 1D16-5408; 1D16-5416, 2017 WL 1908370 (Fla. 1st DCA May 9, 2017).
- Instrumental in the formation of two of only a handful of reciprocal insurers approved by Florida regulators.
- Served as general counsel of the Florida Workers鈥 Compensation Joint Underwriting Association, Florida鈥檚 workers鈥 compensation insurer of last resort, since its formation more than 20 years ago.
Awards and Recognition
- Peer review rated as AV Preeminent庐, the highest performance rating in the Martindale-Hubbell庐 Peer Review Ratings鈩 system
- Listed in Chambers USA: America鈥檚 Leading Business Lawyers (2005-2017)
- Selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America漏 in the fields of:
- Government Relations Practice (2016-2022)
- Insurance Law (2007-2022)
- Named the Best Lawyers庐 2013 Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Tallahassee
- Listed in U.S. News Best Lawyers漏 (2007-2013)
- Recognized by The Legal 500 for insurance work (2011, 2014)
Affiliations
- Member of the American Bar Association (ABA)
- Member of ABA’s Tort & Insurance Practice Section
- Member of ABA’s Committee on the Public Regulation of Insurance
- Member of the Federation of Regulatory Counsel