Insurance Defense? Forum

(On Campus Interviews, Summer Associate positions, Firm Reviews, Tips, ...)
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
Anonymous User
Posts: 427956
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Insurance Defense?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Apr 08, 2013 6:35 pm

How much would taking an insurance defense job hurt your chances when trying to level up down the road? I know it's not as bad as doc review or ambulance chasing but it does seem to be somewhat reviled.

Anonymous User
Posts: 427956
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Insurance Defense?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Apr 08, 2013 6:38 pm

Anonymous User wrote:How much would taking an insurance defense job hurt your chances when trying to level up down the road? I know it's not as bad as doc review or ambulance chasing but it does seem to be somewhat reviled.
+1 also curious. Both in terms of an SA position or permanent job.

target

Silver
Posts: 688
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 6:40 pm

Re: Insurance Defense?

Post by target » Tue Apr 09, 2013 1:03 am

It's not gonna hurt as much as having bad grades, going to medium ranged school, etc. Stop worry about what you don't have and focus on what you have.

I'm not really sure what's up with recent questions about ID firms.

Anonymous User
Posts: 427956
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Insurance Defense?

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Apr 09, 2013 1:12 am

target wrote:It's not gonna hurt as much as having bad grades, going to medium ranged school, etc. Stop worry about what you don't have and focus on what you have.

I'm not really sure what's up with recent questions about ID firms.
Lots of unemployed 3Ls scrounging for options...

target

Silver
Posts: 688
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 6:40 pm

Re: Insurance Defense?

Post by target » Tue Apr 09, 2013 12:05 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
target wrote:It's not gonna hurt as much as having bad grades, going to medium ranged school, etc. Stop worry about what you don't have and focus on what you have.

I'm not really sure what's up with recent questions about ID firms.
Lots of unemployed 3Ls scrounging for options...
True, and firms, regardless of size and types of practice can easily fill their need with unemployed 3Ls or recent grads. Take what you have now and keep looking/applying if you want to move up. If you can move up, that's great. If not, then you still have a job.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


BeautifulSW

Silver
Posts: 587
Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 11:52 am

Re: Insurance Defense?

Post by BeautifulSW » Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:53 pm

If by "insurance defense" you mean defending an insured against a tort claim for which some insurance company will be liable, I know a little about that, at least here in the Southwest. If you mean defending an insurance company against a bad faith claim, that I know less about.

ID is kind of an interesting niche that seems to give business to a wide variety of civil firms from solos to medium law (we have no real big law here). Once you have some civil trial experience you can even build a rather nice practice for yourself. The reason is that insurance companies are forever looking for new firms to take on the work.

The downside, though, is that the company will red pencil your billing statements and negotiate a substantial discount from your usual billing rate. There's a lot of competition so you grin and bear it. The upside is that insurance companies DO pay promptly.

The work can be interesting but you need a pretty cold heart sometimes. Insurance companies are not social welfare agencies and all insurers are not 100% honest.

ID is one of the places where a firm Martindale A/V rating used to be very helpful. I don't know whether that is still the case.

EDIT: I should add that you can't play both sides in ID. If you take the insurance company's cash, you shouldn't be soliciting PI cases as well. Not illegal but just not the done thing. That means no huge paydays but also little risk of starvation.

User avatar
fruitoftheloom

Bronze
Posts: 391
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2012 10:38 pm

Re: Insurance Defense?

Post by fruitoftheloom » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:20 pm

BeautifulSW wrote:If by "insurance defense" you mean defending an insured against a tort claim for which some insurance company will be liable, I know a little about that, at least here in the Southwest. If you mean defending an insurance company against a bad faith claim, that I know less about.

ID is kind of an interesting niche that seems to give business to a wide variety of civil firms from solos to medium law (we have no real big law here). Once you have some civil trial experience you can even build a rather nice practice for yourself. The reason is that insurance companies are forever looking for new firms to take on the work.

The downside, though, is that the company will red pencil your billing statements and negotiate a substantial discount from your usual billing rate. There's a lot of competition so you grin and bear it. The upside is that insurance companies DO pay promptly.

The work can be interesting but you need a pretty cold heart sometimes. Insurance companies are not social welfare agencies and all insurers are not 100% honest.

ID is one of the places where a firm Martindale A/V rating used to be very helpful. I don't know whether that is still the case.

EDIT: I should add that you can't play both sides in ID. If you take the insurance company's cash, you shouldn't be soliciting PI cases as well. Not illegal but just not the done thing. That means no huge paydays but also little risk of starvation.
To add to this, if you do ID and you have a plaintiff case against a company you work for as defense counsel, they can and will conflict you out of the case if it seems like it's going to trial. This ends with you making less $$.

User avatar
Mick Haller

Silver
Posts: 1257
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:24 pm

Re: Insurance Defense?

Post by Mick Haller » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:52 pm

ID is not a bad field in this economy. I am making 75k plus bonuses, and am quite happy.

User avatar
holdencaulfield

Bronze
Posts: 479
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 7:12 pm

Re: Insurance Defense?

Post by holdencaulfield » Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:26 pm

Mick Haller wrote:ID is not a bad field in this economy. I am making 75k plus bonuses, and am quite happy.

+1...especially if you get trial experience.

BeautifulSW

Silver
Posts: 587
Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 11:52 am

Re: Insurance Defense?

Post by BeautifulSW » Thu Apr 11, 2013 10:34 am

In a smaller firm, you will get that jury trial and motions practice experience. You will also do depositions and review mountains of discovery. One thing you will find out is that law school actually DID train you to be a lawyer. The Courtroom skills, not so much, but the theory and process, yes.

You will also begin to develop a reputation for yourself that, if it's a good one, will cause the business to come to you. ID firms don't usually need to advertise. And that's job security.

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Legal Employment”