Great Lakes Wire

The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) has named a new member department’s general counsel.

DIFS Director Anita Fox made the statement earlier this month that Joe Garcia will serve in that capacity, according to Michigan.gov.

“Joe Garcia is a dedicated, highly skilled attorney and public servant, and I am pleased that he will continue to serve Michigan residents in his new role as DIFS general counsel,” Fox said, according to Michigan.gov. “I have no doubt that Joe will bring his many years of experience to continue to move DIFS forward to achieve our goals and to work on behalf of consumers statewide.”

Joe Garcia | LinkedIn/Joe Garcia

Garcia’s career includes stops at the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services, were he worked for over 14 years, and 12 years as deputy general counsel in the Office of General Counsel (OGC).

Initially, Garcia, who lives in Delta Township with his wife and two daughters, started out as a lawyer for commercial transactions, real estate and litigation industries. He received a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees from Michigan State University.

In his new role, Garcia will head the OGC, a legal extension of the department that represents them in attorney-related matters, and run the Fraud Investigation Unit, an office for the prevention of criminal and fraudulent activities in the insurance and financial services sectors.

The OGC is also responsible for providing legal advice and representation to the director and DIFS staff with respect to: enforcement actions, formal administrative hearings, receivership proceedings, orders, drafting enforcement-related rules and bulletins, declaratory rulings and processing Freedom of Information Act requests.