A Toronto insurance defence lawyer specializes in legal defence work on insurance-related matters. He develops and implements strategies in accordance with Canadian insurance laws to protect client interests in legal proceedings and also focus on long-term efforts to help reduce aggravation and the risk of litigation.
Some insurance defense attorneys work for law firms that provide legal help to insurance companies, providing legal representation to regional or local insurance policy holders.
Others practice their field as in-house staff attorneys in the legal department of the insurance company itself, working on analyzing coverage issues, managing litigation and handling insurance compliance issues.
The laws surrounding insurance defense involves a wide range of legal issues relating to insurance policies and claims. These issues may generally involve homeowners,real estate properties, general contractors, subcontractors, motor vehicles, businesses, environmental, governmental, consumers, professionals as well as comprehensive general liability matters.
A Toronto insurance defence lawyer may cover some of these common practice areas:
Motor vehicle accidents
Occupiers' liability
Professional negligence
Medical and professional malpractice
Product liability
Recreational vehicle accidents
Property loss
Fire claims
Construction defects
Reinsurance
Catastrophic loss
Bad faith
Personal injury cases, such as disability, defamation and mold exposure
Insurance fraud
Labor and employment
Toxic torts
There tends to be very high volume work involved in insurance defense. For associates, the work typically includes finding and modifying standardized policy language, studying documents, researching and scrutinizing cases, interpreting and clarifying policy language, and examining methodically and in detail the state regulations that govern the business of insurance. A new lawyer in an insurance defense firm would likely be involved in litigation by draft pleadings, motions, and written discovery. Experienced trial lawyers are fully capable of analyzing and executing defence strategies that deal with complex and specialized facts and information. In many instances, they handle legal cases that may involve the use of technical, medical and scientific evidence which they are qualified to navigate carefully and without difficulty.
Insurance defense is primarily focused on disputes between insurers and policyholders. In a typical situation, an insurer will hire an insurance defence lawyer to defend the policyholder (the insured) against complaints brought by a third party usually with allegations that the policyholder has caused the third party to suffer bodily injury or property damage. The defense attorney will help uncover if the insured defendant has any legal responsibility to a third party, and if at fault, then the lawyer will also help determine how much is accountable.
One good example of an insurance litigation case may involve an insurance defense attorney representing an auto policyholder who is in need of counsel and defense from another driver who is suing the policyholder for damages. A skilled lawyer may greatly help in obtaining more favorable settlement terms for the insured and the insurance company.
Another good example is a flood damage claim made by a homeowner who has homeowner’s policy that does not include flood coverage. Insurance defence lawyers are called in to examine whether the claim being made is covered in the terms of the insurance policy and to uncover cases of insurance fraud and false claims.
A Toronto insurance defence lawyer often works exclusively for insurance companies to zealously represent their policyholders. It is the insurance company and not the policyholder who pays the attorney’s fees whenever there is need for representation to challenge a claim, and it is for this reason that many policyowners worry about whether the attorney is actually working to protect his best interest or that of the insurance company. If you get involved in an insurance dispute, make sure that you understand your legal rights and and that you get fair and equal legal representation that is due to you as policyholder.
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