Steven M. Goldman, New Jersey’s commissioner of banking and insurance, announced he will leave the post July 15 to take a job at a law firm in New York.

Goldman made the announcement Monday (June 29), according to his press office. He was named by New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine to head the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance in March 2006.

Goldman will take a position at the law firm of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, a full-service law firm with offices in New York and Paris. Sources say Goldman has talked about leaving the office to return to a private law practice in recent months.

No interim commissioner of the Department of Banking and Insurance has been named, according to Goldman’s staff.

Douglas Wheeler, the new director of insurance, who works directly under the commissioner, could be a possible successor, according to industry sources. Wheeler’s nomination as head of the agency’s insurance operations was confirmed June 25. Wheeler succeeds longtime insurance director Donald Bryan, who retired June 30.