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What Does an Insurance Lawyer Do?

Summer Banks
Summer Banks

An insurance lawyer is a professional specializing in the various types of insurance, and the lawful upholding of these insurance policies. Daily activities may include working with aides and staff to track current case progression, investigating current cases, and completing continuing education courses involving changes in insurance law. Some of the most common types of insurance include home insurance, auto insurance, health insurance, and mortgage insurance. The lawyer may practice in any of these areas or one of the hundreds of other divisions of insurance law.

One common function of the insurance lawyer involves mitigating insurance law cases. These cases may involve both personal and corporate insurance law. The lawyer practicing mitigation may need to employ time management skills, the ability to gather and decipher information, and communication skills when presenting the collected information to the court.

Insurance lawyers settle disputes about causes of and payments for accidents.
Insurance lawyers settle disputes about causes of and payments for accidents.

Case investigation often works concurrently with case mitigation. The insurance claim lawyer will often work with aides and staff members to collect facts surrounding the insurance case in order to present those facts to the court. These facts will be the basis for the defense of the client who has hired the insurance claim lawyer to represent their case. In many insurance cases, the amount of facts needed to win a case requires the use of additional manpower, thus the use of aides and staff members.

It's important that an insurance lawyer keeps up to date on changes in the industry.
It's important that an insurance lawyer keeps up to date on changes in the industry.

In addition to mitigating insurance cases in court, the insurance lawyer may oversee the writing of new insurance policies for professional or corporate clients. The specific writing of the policies may be completed by insurance underwriters. The attorney will most often be responsible for verifying the legality of the insurance policy, however, and removing any loopholes the policy may have.

An insurance lawyer may specialize in any of the hundreds of divisions of insurance law.
An insurance lawyer may specialize in any of the hundreds of divisions of insurance law.

As insurance laws change, the insurance lawyer may need to complete continuing education courses or attend continuing education seminars in order to stay up to date on law changes. This continuing education may help the attorney provide the most effective representation to the client securing the attorney. Continuing education may not be required in all regions to maintain a license in insurance law.

Insurance lawyers may examine the causes of property damage.
Insurance lawyers may examine the causes of property damage.

There is a long list of insurance policies, companies, and laws under which the insurance lawyer will practice. Each of the different types of insurance may require a specific bit of knowledge regarding the effective legal support needed to win insurance cases. These lawyers may work for either the victim or the defendant.

Discussion Comments

Soulfox

@Terrificli -- don't forget about the lawyers on the other side. Those attorneys must be able to get a larger award minus an attorney's fee than what the injured party would have gotten by settling directly with an insurance company.

There is a lot of pressure involved in that. That means the personal injury lawyer must also keep up with new developments in insurance law and know what kind of awards juries typically award in personal injury cases.

Terrificli

@Vincenzo -- A good insurance lawyer needs to know more than what a reasonable settlement offer is. He or she should also know whether juries tend to award large or small judgments in personal injury cases in the court where the matter could be tried.

An insurance lawyer armed with that knowledge will be in a good position to see how much a reasonable settlement offer is and whether the company would be better off just throwing the dice in court and hoping a jury will award less than what the injured person is demanding.

Vincenzo

A good insurance lawyer is worth his weight in gold because he can save a ton of money for a company. For example, let's say someone was hurt in an auto wreck and the responsible party was the insurance company's client. The person who was hurt will want some money to pay for hospital bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, etc.

There is little question that the person who was hurt is entitled to compensation for injuries, lost work time, auto repair and other tangible things, but what about pain and suffering? That is where the fights brew because that's where people who are hurt win money.

A good insurance lawyer, then, needs to know what a reasonable settlement offer is and should give one up front that is good enough to keep the hurt person from hiring a lawyer and wanting more and more cash.

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    • Insurance lawyers settle disputes about causes of and payments for accidents.
      By: Scott Leman
      Insurance lawyers settle disputes about causes of and payments for accidents.
    • It's important that an insurance lawyer keeps up to date on changes in the industry.
      By: taka
      It's important that an insurance lawyer keeps up to date on changes in the industry.
    • An insurance lawyer may specialize in any of the hundreds of divisions of insurance law.
      By: Aleksandar Radovanov
      An insurance lawyer may specialize in any of the hundreds of divisions of insurance law.
    • Insurance lawyers may examine the causes of property damage.
      By: gemenacom
      Insurance lawyers may examine the causes of property damage.
    • A lawyer may fight for the policyholder to have certain medical procedures covered that have been previously denied by the insurance company.
      By: contrastwerkstatt
      A lawyer may fight for the policyholder to have certain medical procedures covered that have been previously denied by the insurance company.