Bart Schwartz

Prior to joining Willkie in 2018, Bart served for ten years as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE: AIZ), a premier global provider of specialty insurance products and other risk management solutions. Bart oversaw Assurant’s legal, compliance, government relations and internal audit departments and had executive responsibility for all legal matters affecting the multinational Fortune 500 company.

Prior to Assurant, Bart served as Chief Corporate Governance Officer and Secretary at Bank of New York Mellon, where he played an integral role in legal and governance matters related to The Bank of New York’s merger with Mellon Financial Corporation. He was also previously the Deputy General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, SVP and General Counsel of The MONY Group (the post-demutualization name for the former Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York), and SVP & General Counsel of Willis (now Willis Towers Watson). In addition to serving as the principal legal advisor to boards of directors and senior executive management of major public companies, he has led the defense and resolution of significant litigation relating to complex insurance issues, securities class actions and shareholder derivative suits. He has represented regulated companies in proceedings before state insurance departments, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. In addition, Bart has led internal investigations and managed companies’ responses to investigations by regulatory authorities, and he has represented companies in connection with testimony by company executives before the United States Congress and state regulatory agencies. Previously, he practiced with two leading New York law firms.

Bart was one of the original co-editors and authors of Corporate Governance: Law and Practice (Matthew Bender Lexis/Nexis, two volumes, with annual updates). He has published numerous articles and spoken widely on corporate governance, securities law, insurance issues and legal department management. Bart has also served as a member of the boards of the Association of Corporate Counsel, Lawyers Alliance for New York and the Citizens Budget Commission.

Bart is a member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society of New York and the Council of CPR, the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a Special Master for the Appellate Division, First Department of the New York Court of Appeals, and a member of numerous mediation and arbitration panels.