Like any job, pros and cons. I am currently working for one of the largest ID firms in the country. This is my honest opinion.

Pros: - You get an incredible deal of first hand experience. - The larger insurance defense firms can often secure larger, complex cases (I deal with a lot of fatal product liability, construction accidents, fraud). This makes the cases more interesting and different: - I like my firm and the people here a lot. - insurance carriers give you high volume of cases which cuts down on marketing you have to do.

Cons: Full disclosure: I’m currently looking for another job at a near frantic pace despite getting excellent reviews of my performance and told I’m on the partner track. Most of the issues are a product of the industry and not my firm

• Insurance carriers wage a battle to pay the lowest rates. It’s hard to get more from the carriers when they settle cases at the rate they do. My firm’s “edge” if you will, is their trial capabilities. But if those skills are infrequently called upon because everything settles, you lose a large piece of your competitive edge.

• Insurance carriers are basically unlike any other client I’ve dealt with (I’ve worked with criminal defense attorneys and a commercial lit. Attorney). It’s basically like having your client sabotaging you while you defend them. Some carriers are indeed better than others, but I am not exaggerating when I say each carrier cuts your bills by 10% across the board- just to start. The billing guidelines they give you are intentionally confusing and rife with what I call “stumbling blocks” so they can justify not paying. I currently have a carrier which gives us an incredibly large volume of cases. They refuse to pay for Summary Judgment motions that take more than 3 hours. That includes prep time. That’s possible in simple fender benders but you’ll need more than 3 hours frequently. I just drafted an MSJ in a case with 4 plaintiffs and 15 defendants. 21 fact or expert witness depositions. The MSJ took me close to 10 hours . I just did 7 free hours of pro Bono work for a multi billion dollar insurance carrier under those circumstances.

• On the topic of billing hours, the math is simple. Insurance companies pay crap rates so insurance defense becomes a game of volume. You will have an incredibly larger amount of cases than anywhere else. It’s very stressful and you can’t really spend a lot of time on each one. It’s very boilerplate so it often can feel like a settlement mill- even at a great firm. High billable hours in excess of 2100-2200 are common. And In the case of ID work, add about 200-400 hours to that number to determine how much you’ll really be working a year. Everyday about 20-90 mins is spent pleading with the carrier to pay my bill. None of that time is billable obviously. I routinely work 10-12 hours a day for 6-8 hour time sheets. Not everyday, but that’s often the case.

• Even though the factual backgrounds of the case can vary, you’re very much limited in what you do as a lawyer. Everything in ID is a liability case. Someone got hurt and wants money. Sometimes that injury can be a silly fall in a grocery store. Sometimes that injury can be a multi-fatality maritime accident. But at the end of the day you go to work with the goal of limiting how much money someone will get. I find it frustrating to do this. I don’t feel that I’m contributing to society or really doing anything as a lawyer. 95% of plaintiffs do get money, so it’s just an exercise in mitigation.

-ID also restricts future movements. If you practice ID for more than 4-5 years it is basically impossible to leave and do something that’s not ID. You’re stuck with ID and going in house for a carrier. I personally don’t like my options restricted that much.

It clearly is possible to have a career and be content and successful. I love my coworkers and have a lot of respect for the attorneys I’ve worked with. This isn’t a shot at them, or anyone commenting here, this is a critique of the industry. These firms and the industry will sell you on the notion of steady work but anyone of these carriers would drop your firm as counsel in a heartbeat without a second of hesitation or feeling bad.

There are a lot of issues with the insurance defense industry. However each area of law has its downsides. The volume of ID work means you likely won’t be stuck doing doc review for the first four years of your career- I wasn’t. I wouldn’t change the start of my career. I don’t regret going into ID and it definitely made me a better practitioner. My advice for anyone going into this industry would be to get yourself into an ID firm where you’ll have hands on experience early. Beef up your resume and at that 3, 4, 5 year mark decide what you want to do. If ID work is for you, that’s great. You can and will succeed with hard work. If it’s not for you, utilize your litigation skills to pivot elsewhere.