lawyer that does not know the law of insurance is litigating
with duct tape firmly placed across his or her mouth.Zalma on Insurance
© 2011
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 E-book was designed to provide the law student, the practicing lawyer, the insurance lawyer, and insurance professionals with a complete survey of property and casualty insurance 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. It is updated daily by the blog, Zalma on Insurance.
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 insurance law or the claims business; for those representing insurers, those 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 Claims available from Specialty Technical Publishers of Vancouver, BC, Canada and other e-books: The Truth, The Whole Truth & Nothing But the Truth – II and Heads I Win, Tails You Lose.
The E-book, in more than 1100 pages, begins with a history of insurance starting with a 1776 decision of the British House of Lords that established the existence of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and pushing through to issues relating to interpretation of insurance contracts, remedies available to insurers and the policyholder, and the litigation of issues with the full text of definitive cases and analysis by Mr. Zalma, an internationally recognized insurance coverage, insurance claims handling, insurance fraud and insurance bad faith expert and consultant. It also has appendices including the full text of the California Standard Fire Insurance Policy, a glossary of insurance terms, and some insurance fraud statutes from across the country.