Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MARCH 23, 2026 17 J. Michael Wirvin, recently named managing partner of Robinson+Cole, in the law firm's Hartford boardroom. The Boston-based executive is the firm's first managing partner based outside Connecticut. HBJ Photo | Steve Laschever Future Focus New Boston-based Robinson+Cole leader Wirvin outlines growth strategy, AI plans Wirvin has worked under three managing partners at Robinson+- Cole, including Tobin, and said he benefited from seeing their different leadership styles. "My approach to leadership is consensus building," he said. "I do think that top-down leadership like you'd see from a CEO at a corporation is just not a recipe for success at a law firm." With 138 partners, however, he concedes perfect agreement is not always possible. "People elect you to make decisions, they don't elect you to find everyone to agree with you," he said. "But I do think that trust is kind of the currency of consensus building." By Harriet Jones hjones@hartfordbusiness.com L aw firm Robinson+Cole was founded as a one-lawyer office on Hartford's State Street in 1845. In the intervening 180 years, it's grown to 12 offices across nine states and the District of Columbia, and employs some 274 attorneys and 242 support staff. Now, for the first time in its history, the firm's managing partner will be based outside Connecticut; Robinson+Cole no longer calls itself Hartford-based, but instead "Hartford-founded." "It's not going to shift the strategy of the firm at all," said recently named Managing Partner J. Michael Wirvin, who is based in Boston and has led Robinson+Cole's office there since 2014. "I really don't feel it matters where the managing partner sits in this firm," he said. "We're a one-firm philosophy. We always have been." Speaking to the Hartford Business Journal in Robinson+Cole's Hartford boardroom overlooking the Connecticut River, Wirvin said he will be in the city regularly, as he is in the firm's other locations. But he insists the firm's center of gravity will not shift. "Growth in our bigger markets has always been a strategy of ours. And Boston is one of those. It's a top five legal market," he said. Consensus building Wirvin was born and raised in Canada. He completed a bachelor's degree in biology and biochemistry at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, and earned his law degree at the University of New Brunswick. After practicing in Canada for five years, he and his family moved to the U.S. in 2000, when he joined Robinson+Cole's Boston office as an associate. He has remained there ever since. His area of expertise is mergers and acquisitions, and for roughly the past 15 years, he has built a particular specialty in advising international companies on transactions. Many of his clients are U.K. or European compa- nies looking to expand into the U.S. He does not focus on a single industry, working with companies ranging from food and beverage to manufacturing and media. Wirvin made partner in 2009, and has been involved in the firm's governance since then, including about 12 years on its management committee. When previous Managing Partner Rhonda Tobin decided to step down, he said putting his name forward for the leader- ship position was an easy decision. The transition officially occurred on March 1. "It just seemed, at least to me, to be a natural progression," he said. Tobin said Wirvin's long tenure at the firm and leadership experience made him a natural choice to succeed her. "I have known and worked closely with Mike for more than two decades, and there is no question that he is the right person to guide us forward," Tobin said when his election was announced. J. MICHAEL WIRVIN Managing Partner Robinson+Cole Education: Bachelor's degree in biology and biochemistry, St. Francis Xavier University (Nova Scotia); law degree, University of New Brunswick Age: 57 plans to withdraw from the state's fully insured, small group market serving employers with 50 or fewer workers. Since then, Aetna, Cigna/Oscar Health and nonprofit Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare have all also left that market in the state. In July 2024, EmblemHealth announced it had entered into an agree- ment to sell ConnectiCare to Molina Healthcare for $350 million. That deal was completed in February last year. Then, in May 2025, ConnectiCare informed brokers it planned to end its self-funded and level-funded business in Connecticut beginning in July. The following month, ConnectiCare told brokers it would also exit the state's fully insured large-group market. Still, ConnectiCare remains one of two carriers in the state's individual market, along with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. According to the state Insurance Department, ConnectiCare reported covering 74,583 people in the individual Affordable Care Act market in its 2025 rate filing for the 2026 plan year. That compares with 83,790 people covered by Anthem. For the small group, fully insured market, ConnectiCare's last filing was in 2022 (for the 2023 plan year), when it reported covering 20,061 people. According to the state's 2025 Consumer Report Card, ConnectiCare reported 2024 enrollment of 20,166 across both fully insured and self-in- sured plans in the large-group market. In response to a request for comment from Hartford Business Journal, a Molina spokesperson sent a one-sen- tence statement about ConnectiCare's plans for the state's insurance market. "Molina Healthcare is committed to Connecticut, including ConnectiCare's long-standing participation in the state's individual marketplace," the spokesperson said. Continued on next page

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