Insurance --
Cases and Materials on Coverage,
Claims, and Litigation
© 2007; 2009
Barry Zalma
Every lawyer retained to prosecute or defend a civil suit should begin the representation with efforts to find insurance coverage for the benefit of the client. Indeed, a lawyer that does not know the law of insurance is litigating with duct tape firmly placed across his or her mouth.
A few examples of how lawyers are funded by the insurance industry include the following:
• The tort lawyer is retained by a plaintiff and subject to a contingency fee agreement whose fee, is paid by an insurer.
• The tort defense lawyer is paid directly by the client’s insurer(s).
• The insurance defense lawyer is paid directly to defend an insurer.
• The insurer client pays the insurance coverage lawyer whose practice is limited to litigating against insurers.
• Insurers pay the regulatory lawyer who deals with regulatory agencies on behalf of or against the interest of insurers a fee.
• An insurer pays the patent lawyer who determines that the suit for infringement is covered by insurance.
• An insurer pays the transactional lawyer who writes contracts to compel insurance to be available for the benefit of his or her client.
• The prosecutor whose practice is limited to the prosecution of insurance fraud is paid by funds paid to the state by insurers to prosecute crimes against insurers.
• The criminal defense lawyer who defends a client against the crime of insurance fraud is paid by his client as a result of an insurance claim.
Every civil lawyer should understand that a major part of the law firm’s income comes, directly or indirectly, from insurance. Since insurance is an important source of funds for success of a civil law practice it is imperative that every lawyer have a basic understanding of the law of insurance. Similarly, prosecutors or criminal defense lawyers dealing with the crime of insurance fraud must understand the law of insurance to properly represent the state or the defendant. Indeed, the lawyer who is ignorant of the law of insurance cannot adequately serve his or her clients.
The purpose of this book is to provide the law student, the practicing lawyer, the insurance lawyer, and professional claims personnel with the full text of insurance-related decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the US District Courts of Appeal, state appellate courts, and foreign courts that have molded the law that governs insurance transactions in the United States.
Those who are new to the subject of insurance will find this book a resource and a starting point for research. It can also be used as a basic training course for those who are just beginning the practice of law or the claims business; for those representing insurers, one representing those who are insured; or for those litigating against insurers the book can be used in conjunction with, or as a supplement to, the author’s books Insurance Claims: A Comprehensive Guide; Mold: A Comprehensive Claims Guide, Construction Defects: Litigation and Claims1 and other e-books: The Truth, The Whole Truth & Nothing But the Truth – II and Heads I Win, Tails You Lose.