July 29, 2008
(Montpelier) Montpelier lawyer John H. Hollar of Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC has been named outside general counsel for the Union Mutual of Vermont Companies headquartered in Montpelier. Hollar’s appointment was announced on July 29 by John H. “Josh” Fitzhugh, chief executive officer at Union Mutual of Vermont.
Hollar will provide legal services in areas including contract review, employment, regulatory compliance and zoning. Selection of an outside general counsel follows Fitzhugh’s election as CEO and Douglas J. Wacek’s retirement on May 28. As a senior vice president of the companies prior to his promotion, Fitzhugh had also served as general counsel.
“This modest change in structure assures that the companies will have quality legal counsel on a regular basis,” Fitzhugh said. “Members of the board and I have known John Hollar for many years. We think this is a good fit for the companies and for John.”
Hollar joined DRM in 2004, where he serves as co-chair of the Government & Public Affairs Group and as a practicing attorney in business law. His position at DRM will remain unchanged. Before joining DRM, he operated a private law and lobbying practice in Montpelier for seven years, after having been a partner with the Montpelier law firm of Wilson & White for four years. He represented cities and towns on a wide range of environmental matters as a lawyer with Cutler & Stanfield in Washington, D.C. Hollar also represents a wide range of other insurance industry clients, including the American Insurance Association and the Vermont Insurance Agents Association. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in 2008.
With more than 85 attorneys and legal professionals in seven offices in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York, DRM provides legal services to local, national and international clients in practice areas that include litigation, business law, labor and employment, captive insurance, environmental law, trusts and estates, family law, tax law, public utilities, real estate, health care, intellectual property, insolvency and creditors rights, venture capital and insurance defense. The firm represents clients in legislative, regulatory and public affairs through the Government and Public Affairs Group. DRM is the law firm member for Vermont of Lex Mundi, the world's leading association of independent law firms
Union Mutual of Vermont Companies consist of Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company and New England Guaranty Insurance Company, both headquartered in Montpelier, as well as an affiliated company, Eastern Mutual Insurance Company, located in Greenville, N.Y. The three companies write property and casualty insurance in New England and New York. The companies had combined premiums last year of $103 million and are all rated "A-" by A.M. Best, the financial services credit rating organization. Union Mutual was founded in Montpelier in 1843.
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