Md. Gov. O’Malley Names Tyler as Insurance Commissioner

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley this morning named attorney and long-time advisor Ralph S. Tyler to be the state’s insurance commissioner responsible for overseeing the regulation of Maryland’s $26 billion insurance industry.

Tyler currently serves as chief legal counsel for the O’Malley-Brown Administration.

“Ralph Tyler has been a steadfast advocate for the working families of our state, and there is no one better to lead the Maryland Insurance Administration,” said O’Malley. “One of the most important things our Administration will accomplish is making government work again for working families of our state – standing up for middle class families when special interests try to take advantage of them.”

Tyler served as one of the O’Malley’s closest advisors as chief legal counsel and led the effort to reconstitute Maryland’s Public Service Commission with independent and professional regulators. Tyler helped to develop the Administration’s first annual budget.

As Baltimore’s City Solicitor, Tyler led the lawsuit against the Maryland Public Service Commission and a pending BGE 72 percent utility rate increase this past summer. The lawsuit is credited with allowing the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation to keep utility rates affordable and give utility companies more flexibility in purchasing electricity.

Tyler will replace Peggy Watson, who served as interim commissioner after Steven Orr left.

“I am looking forward to serving the people of Maryland in a new capacity,” stated Tyler. “The Maryland Insurance Administration’s primary purpose is to protect Maryland consumers, and I look forward to working under Governor O’Malley to protect the working families of our State.”

Tyler, 60, is an attorney with over 30 years of experience as a lawyer including more than 20 years practicing law in Baltimore City and Maryland.

He served as the state’s deputy attorney general from 1991 to 1996, before becoming a partner at the Baltimore office of Hogan & Hartson. During his 14 years at the attorney general’s Office, Tyler also served as the chief of litigation during which time he handled the landmark Fifth Amendment case of Baltimore City Department of Social Services v. Bouknight. Tyler is a longtime Baltimore City resident and served on the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners.

Tyler received his B.A. from the University of Illinois in 1969, his J.D. from Case Western Reserve in 1972, and an LL.M. from Harvard University in 1977. He is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia Bars, the American, Maryland, and Baltimore City Bar Associations, and he is a permanent member of the Judicial Conference of the Fourth Circuit. In addition, he is a past member of the rules committee of the Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Source: Maryland Governor’s Office