Insurance Defense Litigation (SD): Pre-Trial Practice at a Mid-Size [Law Firm]

This episode is presented by The United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corp.

Where did you say you went to school? In a state where 75% of active lawyers went to one school, where you attended law school matters a great deal. While South Dakota is an extreme, it's just one example of how your law school choice can pay off or hamper you.

In this episode, we interview insurance defense litigator and University of South Dakota School of Law alumna Meghann Joyce. While she's hired and paid for by insurance companies, her clients are the insured defending, among other claims, professional liability and employment suits. A lawyer's duty of loyalty runs to the client, but business realities produce very real ethical dilemmas for Meghann and her co-workers.

Despite being a litigator, she's almost never in the court room -- a frustration common to civil litigators. Instead her work can be categorized as largely pre-trial practice. She's often steeped in research and brief writing. Her job responsibilities and expectations have evolved since she started, but the unpredictability of her days continues.

This episode is hosted by Kimber Russell, an account executive at Planet Depos, an international court reporting firm. It is sponsored by Barbri Law Preview and Top-Law-Schools.com.

Episode Links

Boyce Law Firm -- Meghann Joyce
NC State Bar: An Insurance Defense Attorney's Dual Client Problem
ABA Section of Litgation: Pretrial Practice & Discovery
Wikipedia: Claims Adjuster