Special Master Biography

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has issued a seventh order in Premera’s request to convert to for-profit status, appointing a special master to oversee some pre-hearing proceedings.

The special master is the Honorable George Finkle, a retired King County Superior Court judge who presided from 1989 to 1999.

A Harvard Law School graduate, Finkle previously served as deputy director for the Seattle-King County Public Defender. He also practiced law as a partner in a private firm and clerked for the Hon. Jerome Farris.

He is currently affiliated with the Judicial Dispute Resolution, a panel of former jurists that specializes in resolving civil disputes on a private basis.

As special master he will handle issues related to pre-hearing discovery matters that occur between staff members from the Office of the Insurance Commissioner and attorneys from Premera and the intervener groups.