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Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Mike Rothman as the new Commissioner of Commerce. The Department of Commerce and Revenue regulates the business of insurance in the state.

Rothman was most recently an attorney with the firm of Winthrop & Weinstine in Minneapolis, where he was co-chair of the Insurance and Financial Services practice group. He brings a unique blend of government and litigation expertise. His litigation experience began when he worked on the insurance insolvencies of Mission Insurance Cos. and Executive Life, two of the largest in U.S. history.

He has represented clients at the trial and appellate levels in both federal and state courts, as well as in mediations and arbitrations. Rothman has also taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School in Insurance Law and Regulation. He is a founding board member of the Minnesota Urban Debate League, and sits on several other community advisory boards and organizations.

Central Insurance Companies, headquartered in Van Wert, Ohio, appointed Christopher E. Wasson as general counsel for both Central Mutual and All America Companies. Wasson will be responsible for all legal matters presented to the corporation.

This appointment represents the fourth time Central’s board of directors has appointed a general counsel in the company’s 134-year history.

Prior to joining Central, Wasson was assistant general counsel for Nationwide Insurance. Wasson began his legal career as an assistant attorney general in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and later served as assistant legal counsel to the speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives.

Wasson left public service in 2001 when he was named legal counsel for CareWorks, a privately held workers’ compensation case management company. Wasson received his law degree from The Ohio State University.

Frank Krisanits has joined Indiana-based Old National Insurance as its Evansville region president. He will lead the insurance teams in the tri-state area.

Before joining Old National, Krisanits held senior management roles including chief operating officer, president and CEO at an insurance brokerage in California. His insurance expertise is in the field of property and casualty with an emphasis on environmental liability and management liability risk management. Krisanits has also served as chairman and board member for the RiskProNet agency network. He holds the AAI designation and is an alumnus of Western New England College.

Old National Insurance is part of the Old National Bancorp family of companies.

Indianapolis, Ind.-based independent agency MJ Insurance added Tamra Brodie as marketing underwriter in the Employee Benefits Division and BJ Moore as a property and casualty producer in the Construction Practice Group.

Brodie has more than 15 years of industry experience. As a marketing underwriter, she will specialize in plan design and cost analysis, as well as underwriting and health care risk management. Prior to her new role as marketing underwriter, Brodie worked as a medical underwriter at RGI, a division of Key Family of Cos.

Moore brings 13 years of industry expertise to MJ. In his new role as P/C producer in the Construction Practice Group, Moore will focus on business development and service for large and middle market clients. Additionally, he will be involved in developing risk management programs and practices with MJ.

Prior to MJ, Moore served as the regional director of Safety and Loss Control at Turner.

Zurich North America made several key appointments to its specialty lines Surety unit.

The insurer promoted Michael Bond to head of Surety. In his 12 years with Zurich, Bond has had responsibility for numerous markets and products, globally. Prior to assuming his new role, Bond was head of International Surety, Credit & Political Risk, where he helped oversee the expansion of Zurich’s Surety business into emerging markets in Asia and Latin America.

Geoff Delisio was appointed to the newly created role of head of Contract Surety, overseeing regional operations. Delisio joined Zurich in 2007 from Liberty Mutual, and has substantial industry and underwriting experience.

Reporting to Delisio will be: Jim Carroll, who will lead the West and Canada Region; Tom McClellan, who will lead the Eastern region; Dave McVicker, who is promoted from his role as an underwriting manager in International Surety to lead the Central Region.

Brian Hodges has been appointed head of the Surety Underwriting Center of Excellence (Domestic and International). Hodges, who joined Zurich in 1995, has served as a senior underwriting officer, Surety, for the past four years. In this role, he was responsible for underwriting oversight of the commercial surety business in the Southeast, Southwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.

Rounding out the Surety team, Ted Martinez continues in his role as head of Commercial Surety, which he has led since joining Zurich in 2001. Sean McGroarty will continue in his role as head of International Surety, a role he has held since he joined Zurich in April 2009 from Liberty Mutual.

Topics Ohio Underwriting Property Casualty Minnesota