buySAFE Names Pair of New Members to Executive Team

buySAFE, Inc. (www.buysafe.com), which offers protection from online auction risks through the buySAFE with The Hartford program, announced the addition of two new members to its executive team. James Mercier assumes the position of vice president, Legal and Claims and George Flanagin joins buySAFE as vice president, Technology.

Mercier previously held the positions of senior legal counsel and senior vice president, Claims at Hartford Fidelity & Bonding Company (HF&B), a Hartford Financial Services Group company in Hartford, Conn. Prior to working at HF&B, he was a partner at Hartford-based Pepe & Hazard, where he practiced surety and construction law. Mercier began his career at Travelers Indemnity Co. in the surety claims department.

He is currently a vice chair of the Fidelity and Surety Law Subcommittee of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association.

Flanagin comes to buySAFE from Virginia Commonwealth University where he taught computer science at the University’s School of Engineering. His professional career includes previous tenures with Boeing Defense and Space Group, Hewlett-Packard Labs and Thurdion, Inc., a Windows software development company in Santa Cruz, California. Flanagin is the author of more than a dozen published articles and papers on IT subjects, and is a frequent speaker at international conferences, including the keynote address at Software Methods and Tools 2000 in Sydney, Australia and an upcoming tutorial on “Managing IT Professionals” at the May 2004 International DAMA conference in Los Angeles.