James Perras has more than 18 years of experience in Connecticut state government, having worked at high levels in the legislative and executive branches. Jim has advised top legislative leaders and commissioners, first as a senior executive adviser to a former president pro tempore of the Senate and most recently as a legislative and administrative adviser to the Commissioner of the Insurance Department. In addition, Jim represented the quasi-public Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority (now the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority) before the Legislature and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

While at the Senate, Jim advised on matters ranging from grants and bonds to the assignment of political appointees to boards and commissions. He also worked closely with rank-and-file members to promote uniformity in external caucus communications where appropriate. In addition, he ensured caucus compliance with state ethics regulations, among other responsibilities. At the Connecticut Insurance Department, Jim worked closely with industry experts, associations, consumer advocacy groups and others to promote the successful passage of transformative insurance legislation, including Group-wide Supervision, Standard Valuation Law (SVL) as well as Principle-Based Reserving (PBR) and Enterprise Risk Management Reporting, and more.

Jim has built strong and lasting relationships in all facets of Connecticut State government. More importantly, he enjoys a reputation for trustworthiness built on years of congenial collaboration and consensus building, all of which serve the needs of Wilson Elser’s clients well.