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Combating COVID-19 Claims ![]()
What’s Happening:
Insurance companies are being sued right and left by businesses for the loss of business income due to the COVID-19 pandemic-caused breakdown of supply chains. This was expected, says Steven Badger, a partner in the Dallas office of Zelle, where he represents the commercial property insurance industry in emerging and catastrophic risk exposures.
“The insurance industry is seeing a large number of COVID-19 related lawsuits resulting from business interruption claims,” Badger said. “Most lawsuits are being filed as individual actions and others as class actions. It’s interesting to see all the personal injury and mass-tort lawyers now calling themselves 'business interruption experts' and running ads on television, but I wonder how many have actually handled a first-party insurance dispute previously or even bothered closely reading the policy and researching the issues before filing lawsuits.”
“From hearing their statements to the press, it seems their argument is that this is a really tragic event and therefore insurance companies should pay all claims regardless of coverage,” Badger said. “That obviously is a non-starter. Like any contract dispute, the terms of the contract—in this case, an insurance policy—will control. Any broader solution to ensure that all businesses are compensated for their COVID losses, including the majority of small businesses that don’t even have business interruption insurance, must come at the federal level outside of the insurance context.”
What It Means For You (If You Represent Insurance Companies):
Get ready to go to work!
“Insurance industry coverage attorneys see an influx of litigation after every major catastrophic event,” Badger said. “That’s when we get really busy.”
“Events like the 9/11 terrorist attack, hurricanes, and now the COVID-19 pandemic result in a large number of insurance claims and eventually lawsuits,” Badger said. “This event is obviously significant, as it’s like a hurricane that hit all 50 states.
"So, yes, if you represent insurance companies in first-party litigation you are really busy right now," Badger said. "Plus, for those of us here in Texas, it just keeps hailing so those lawsuits continue to come in as well. The lawyers in my firm are not suffering from a lack of work.”
What You Should Do:
Per Badger:
Questions You Should Be Asking Your Insurer Clients:
Per Badger:
(Almost) Everything's Bigger in Texas Texas is home to eight law firms in the Am Law 200 classified as “Texas-based.” These firms have 73% of their attorneys and 81% of their equity partners based in the state. Of these firms, only Locke Lord, headquartered in Texas, has more than 50% of their attorneys located elsewhere. Overall, the Texas-based firms have compared favorably to Am Law 200 averages over the last five years when examining the following metrics: growth in revenue, revenue per lawyer (RPL), profit per equity partner (PEP), and profit per lawyer (PPL).
— Mark A. Moore, analyst, ALM Legal Intelligence [Click the below image to enlarge] ![]() [Click the below image to enlarge] ![]() To dig deeper into the data behind Texas' legal market, visit Legal Compass, a comprehensive research and analysis tool by ALM Intelligence.
Is an Earnings Crash Ahead for Some Attorneys? ![]()
What’s Happening:
When there are fewer cars on the road there are fewer car wrecks, and with COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders still in effect in many states and major cities, personal injury attorneys are starting to wonder how this will affect their case numbers and income, according to a recent story by Angela Morris.
In the ALM Media-conducted survey that asked attorneys how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting their incomes, some 58% of the 45 motor vehicle attorneys who responded said their income has stayed the same during the pandemic. This was the largest rate of any practice area polled among the respondents who came from Texas, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Florida.
The most interesting result, however, came when the attorneys predicted their future income: 71% of the lawyers said they are expecting a decrease. Although car crash attorneys haven’t felt the pinch during the pandemic, they say that those cases were already in the pipeline and now clients have stopped calling them: 73% of respondents said they're getting fewer contacts from potential clients seeking representation.
They are also seeing decreases in new case numbers. When they were asked how their case volumes have already changed, 62% of the motor vehicle lawyers reported a current decreased.
What It Means for You (If You're a Personal Injury Lawyer): . It's not time to lay down.
“We’ve already implemented social distancing best practices for both our staff and our clients,” said Craig Carlsonis, managing partner of The Carlson Law Firm, with offices in San Antonio, Austin and all across Texas. “To do this successfully, our firm had to be technologically ready to continue to meet the daily demands and needs of our clients and potential clients. Just because intakes are down, doesn’t mean we get to take time off. There are still people being injured who need justice and we are ready to help them.” What You Should Do:
Per Carlson:
Questions You Should Be Asking (as a Law Firm Leader):
Per Carlson:
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