Former Md. insurance commissioner Ralph Tyler joins Venable

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Maryland’s former insurance commissioner Ralph S. Tyler has joined Venable LLP as a partner in the firm’s litigation and regulatory divisions.

Venable has gained an experienced attorney with the addition of Tyler, who most recently served as chief counsel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“I was certainly very much attracted to the strong group of lawyers, to the firm’s presence and commitment to Baltimore and Maryland as well its strong regulatory and litigation practice in both Maryland and Washington,” Tyler said in an interview.

And Tyler should know: As insurance commissioner in 2008, he investigated and eventually faulted CareFirst Inc. for being overly generous with an $18 million severance package designed for its CEO, William L. Jews. Tyler’s ruling was overturned on appeal.

CareFirst’s lawyer in that investigation was James L. Shea — chairman of the board at Venable.

“Ralph will be an enormous asset to our firm and for our clients,” Shea said Wednesday. “He brings cutting-edge knowledge of the regulatory climate in Washington and a superb resume as both a litigator and a thought leader.”

Tyler will split his time between the firm’s Baltimore and Washington, D.C., offices. He began work at the firm on Monday after taking about three months off. He had been at the FDA since January 2010.

Before becoming insurance commissioner in September 2007, Tyler was chief counsel to Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. He also served as Baltimore City Solicitor when O’Malley was mayor, a move that required him to give up a partnership with Hogan & Hartson LLP (now Hogan Lovells US LLP) in 2004, after eight years in private practice.

Earlier, Tyler spent 14 years in the Maryland Attorney General’s office under Stephen H. Sachs and J. Joseph Curran Jr.

In the CareFirst case, Tyler ruled in 2008 that Jews should receive half of his compensation package following his ouster after 13 years at the insurance company’s helm.

Tyler found the full severance payment would violate a 2003 Maryland law created after Jews tried, unsuccessfully, to convert CareFirst into a for-profit insurer. That law said CareFirst’s executives can receive “fair and reasonable” payment for work “actually performed for the benefit of the corporation.”

Tyler found the severance payment did not meet the nonprofit’s mission to “provide affordable and accessible health insurance.”

A Baltimore County Circuit Court judge restored Jews’ payment in full in 2009, finding no formula or methodology to support Tyler’s decision.

The Court of Special Appeals upheld the judge’s ruling early this year, faulting the lack of “substantial evidence” to support the 50 percent reduction. The Court of Appeals declined to hear the case in May, making the decision final.

Tyler received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and his J.D. from Case Western Reserve University. He also holds a master of laws degree from Harvard University.