Jay Thompson Named the Raymond Mauk Leadership Award Honoree by the Insurance Council of Texas

Jay Thompson, a partner in the Austin office, has been named the Raymond Mauk Leadership Award honoree by the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT).

Mr. Thompson accepted his award on July 12 at the 20th Annual Mid-Year Property and Casualty Symposium. The Raymond Mauk Leadership Award is the ICT’s highest honor and is intended to bestow recognition on those whose labor has made a significant difference in the business of insurance. Mr. Thompson is the fifteenth recipient of the prestigious award.

Mr. Thompson, a graduate of Lamesa High School, also graduated from Texas Tech in 1970 and the University of Texas School of Law in 1972. He was president of the student body at Texas Tech when the name of the school was changed to Texas Tech University. Upon graduation from law school, he served four years active duty as a judge advocate in the United States Air Force and continued serving as a reservist until he retired from the reserves in 1999. In 1979, he was selected to receive the Reginald Harmon award as the outstanding reserve judge advocate in the Air Force that year.

Mr. Thompson’s work and accomplishments in insurance legislation has helped shape the course of the industry for the last 30 years. In 1987, after successful negotiations with the Texas Homebuilders lobby, he wrote the inspection bill for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA), a landmark achievement which got cities out of the inspection business and gave the responsibility to the Texas Department of Insurance.

In 1989, Mr. Thompson worked on insurance issues that were critical to the passage of the omnibus workers’ compensation reform bill and helped established the Texas Compensation Insurance Association as the vehicle that allowed divergent insurance entities to work as a group on this essential change in the Texas system.

In 1991, Mr. Thompson was a part of a working group on HB 2, the insurance reform legislation championed by Governor Ann Richards. He wrote over 200 amendments some of which became law. He also participated in a successfully challenge in Federal Court of that part of the law that declared that wind pool was a state agency required to be represented by the Attorney General even though the pool received no state funds. He was also co-counsel in the successful appeal of an insurance bad faith case and involved in other important cases involving the business of insurance.

Between 1993 and 1997, Mr. Thompson worked on issues relating to the funding of TWIA and its ability to build up funds. He conceived the “Catastrophe Reserve Trust Fund” and drafted legislation to help keep state budget writers from raiding the fund during hard times so that it would be available in the event of catastrophes such as Hurricane Ike.

Today, Mr. Thompson advises many Texas insurance organizations, including the Insurance Council of Texas, AFACT, the Texas JUA and others, and he continues to play a major role on behalf of the Texas insurance industry.

The Raymond Mauk Award honors former Texas Fire Commissioner Raymond Mauk.

Thompson Coe is the litigation firm of choice for one of the most sophisticated buyers of legal services in American business – the insurance industry. Building on this strong foundation of handling major case litigation and regulatory challenges, Thompson Coe works with clients in other industries to move their companies forward–through trial experience, alternative fee structures and fast case resolution.

Thompson Coe has offices in Dallas, Austin and Houston, Texas and St. Paul, Minnesota.