Gina Marie Balog

IFNY Director

Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP

Nicholas A. Secara is a partner in Foley & Lardner LLP’s Insurance Practice Group and Health Care & Life Sciences Sector, where he focuses on transactional, regulatory, and commercial matters within the (re)insurance industry. He advises investors, start-ups, (re)insurers, managing general agents, third-party administrators, and other industry participants, providing practical, business-oriented guidance on mergers and acquisitions, regulatory compliance, and the development of innovative insurance products and distribution models. Clients also rely on him for representation before state insurance regulators and for counsel in navigating the evolving insurance landscape.

Nick has experience across all lines of business, with a particular focus on life and health and specialty property and casualty, and frequently serves as outside general counsel to insurance-related organizations. Prior to joining Foley, he served as Deputy General Counsel for a global specialty risk assumption organization, where he played a key role in launching and scaling its North American platform. Earlier in his career, he practiced at leading international law firms, advising (re)insurance clients on complex transactional and regulatory matters, as well as high-value arbitrations and litigation. He has also worked on emerging FinTech and InsurTech initiatives involving blockchain and digital assets.

He has advised private equity firms on strategic investments and acquisitions in insurance distribution platforms and managing general agents, counseled specialty insurers on acquisitions in the medical stop-loss and managed care space, and represented major insurance brokers in large-scale transactions, including deals valued at approximately $1 billion. He also has significant experience handling regulatory matters such as licensure, financial examinations, and holding company filings, and negotiating complex commercial agreements across the insurance sector.

Nick is a co-founder and advisory council member of the Insurance Federation of New York, an Emerging Leaders member of the New York State Bar Association’s Insurance Law Committee, and an executive officer of the U.S. Reinsurance Under 40s Group. He earned his J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Cardozo Journal of International & Comparative Law, and his B.A. from Middlebury College. He is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey, as well as in multiple federal district courts.

Foley & Larder LLP

90 Park Ave, 35th Floor, New York, NY 10016
📞  212.338.3434  |  ✉️  nsecara@foley.com  |  LinkedIn

IFNY Director

Thomas Workman served for 7.5 years as the Independent Member with Insurance Expertise on the Financial Stability Oversight Council (2018-2025).   He was nominated for that position by President Donald J. Trump in November of 2017 and was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent in early March of 2018.  Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin swore Tom into this position on March 28, 2018.  The three missions of FSOC are to identify risks to the financial stability of the United States that could arise from material distress or failure, or ongoing activities of large companies in the financial services marketplace, promote market discipline, and respond to emerging threats to the stability of the U.S. financial system.

Prior to his federal service, Tom served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Life Insurance Council of New York, Inc., for nearly seventeen years (1999-2016).  LICONY is the trade organization that represented 53 life insurance companies domiciled in New York State, 21 life insurance companies domiciled outside New York State, and 22 professional firms (accounting, actuarial, consulting, and legal) that serviced the life insurance industry.  LICONY is the “principal voice” representing the legislative, regulatory, and public interests of the life insurance industry in New York State.  The companies represented write over 90% of the business written by life insurers in New York.

Tom practiced law as an associate (1973-1977) and later as a partner (1977-1999) at the Bricker & Eckler Law Firm based in Columbus, Ohio.  He was hired by former Governor and former United States Senator John W. Bricker, and the Managing Partner of the Firm, John Eckler.  During those twenty-six years, Tom represented the Association of Life Insurance Companies, a trade organization of the leading life insurance companies domiciled in Ohio and several major national life insurance companies domiciled outside of Ohio.  Starting in these years, Tom served for 24 years on the Board of Directors of the Ohio Farmers Insurance Company, a highly regarded regional, multi-line, property casualty insurance company headquartered in Westfield Center, Ohio.  From these many years of insurance practice, Tom developed the insurance practice group at Bricker & Eckler.

After undergraduate school (B.S. Finance) and law school (J.D.) at The Ohio State University, Tom clerked at Bricker & Eckler for several months and then reported for active duty as a Captain in The Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the United States Army.  Following nearly four years of this military service (1970-1973), Tom returned to Bricker & Eckler to begin the practice of law.

Tom received the Buist M. Anderson Award for Distinguished Service from the Association of Life Insurance Council and the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Insurance Round Table of New York.  He was a Member of the Board of the Association of Life Insurance Council and its Delegate to the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association.  He served as Chair of the ABA Life Insurance Law Committee, Member of the Board of the Federation of Regulatory Council, Member of the Insurance Law Committee of the New York City Bar, and Trustee of The Griffith Foundation on Insurance Education.

Tom is admitted to practice law in Ohio, New York, and the District of Columbia.  Tom and his wife Pam live in New York City.  Their son and daughter and their families live in New York City and Sarasota, Florida, respectively.

✉️ tom@teworkman.com | LinkedIn