Jo-Marie St. Martin has had a long and storied career in the DC political sphere. As current vice president of federal government relations for W.R. Berkley Corporation, she handles legislative issues and recently led the Coalition for American Insurance, which successfully advocated for changes to US tax code to level the playing field for American insurance companies.
Prior to her role at W.R. Berkley, St. Martin served as general counsel and chief of legislative operations for the speaker of the US House of Representatives, the Honorable John A. Boehner, from his election as speaker in 2011 to his retirement in 2015. Previously, St. Martin was general counsel and floor director in Boehner’s office for his election as majority leader in February 2006 and subsequent re-election as Republican leader in November 2006.
Before Boehner’s election, she served as general counsel to the Committee on Education and the Workforce during Boehner’s tenure as chairman, providing legal advice to the speaker and overseeing the House legislative schedule as well as legislative strategy and process for moving legislation forward. She worked closely with Republican member offices, committee and leadership staff, and her Senate counterparts to assure that legislation met expectations. During her tenure with the House Education and the Workforce Committee, St. Martin played a role in nearly every piece of legislation that came through the committee.
St. Martin has also served as an attorney advisor to the US Department of Labor and was in private practice in Kingsport, Tennessee. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, earning a bachelor’s in mathematics and physics and a JD from the UT College of Law. She continues to support UT and returned in 2012 to speak on the topic of “Inside Washington” at the College of Law.
