New Jersey Commissioner Kobylowski to Resign; Gov. Christie Nominates Civil Attorney as Successor
June 25, 2015 by Thomas Harman
Gov. Chris Christie will nominate civil trial attorney Richard Badolato to succeed Kenneth Kobylowski as New Jersey’s insurance commissioner. Badolato is expected to start on Aug. 1.
Christie had nominated Kobylowski to serve as the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance in January 2012 and the Senate confirmed him in December of that year (Best’s News Service, Dec. 21, 2012). In 2010, Kobylowski joined the department as chief of staff and became its acting director of banking the following year.
Badolato, a former president of the New Jersey State Bar Association, is a partner at the Connell Foley law firm in Roseland, New Jersey. He specializes in civil trial litigation, including medical, legal and dental malpractice, products liability, automobile litigation, and insurance coverage and policy interpretation.
The announcement from Christie’s office praised Kobylowski for bringing a pro-business culture to the office that boosted the state’s major insurance markets. Kobylowski worked successfully for laws that enacted an interstate insurance compact and was among those who reformed the state’s insurance and surplus laws that helped establishment of captive insurers and established a Bureau of Fraud Deterrence that battled civil fraud, said Christie’s office. He also enacted major changes to reform New Jersey’s personal injury protection auto insurance laws.
Kobylowski represented the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a member of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors’ Executive Committee and its Financial Stability Committee. He also was a member of the NAIC’s Executive Committee, chairing the Northeast Zone. He also served on various panels, chairing the financial stability task force and was a member of both the International Relations and Financial Conditions committees.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to lead the department and work for New Jersey residents and businesses,” Kobylowski said in a written statement.
