Insurance Lawyer – 2 to 8 PQE

Burgess Paluch; Melbourne; Hybrid; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Burgess Paluch in Melbourne is seeking an ambitious defendant (or plaintiff) lawyer with 2–8 years PQE to manage a broad defendant caseload across a global insurance practice.

You will advise on liability and strategy, draft pleadings and advices, and appear at conferences, mediations and hearings. This role offers hybrid work and exposure to international underwriters and complex disputes.

Qualifications

• Ambitious and driven defendant (or plaintiff) lawyer with 2–8 years PQE.
• Ability to run a broad defendant caseload from start to resolution.
• Experience appearing at conferences, mediations and interlocutory hearings.

Responsibilities

• Run a broad defendant caseload from first notification through resolution.
• Advise on liability, quantum, strategy and, where required, policy response.
• Draft advices, pleadings, correspondence and briefs for claims managers.
• Appear at conferences, mediations and interlocutory hearings.
• Deal directly with insurer clients and, on the right files, the insured.
• Work with seniors on larger, multi-party or high-value matters.

Skills

Defendant insurance defence

Legal drafting

Litigation strategy

Education

2–8 years PQE

Job description

Broad mix of defendant files inside a global firm. Insurers and underwriters as clients. Strong salary. Flexible work. Run your own matters.

Most insurance files teach you one class of claim. This desk does not.

You will act for insurers and underwriters on the defence side inside a global law firm with a serious Australian insurance practice.

The book is mixed on purpose: public and product liability, personal injury, professional indemnity, property and recoveries, coverage questions, and the litigated files that follow when a claim will not settle.

You will not be parked on one panel product for three years. You will learn the file, the policy, the forum and the client.

What you will do?

• Run a broad defendant caseload from first notification through resolution
• Advise on liability, quantum, strategy and, where required, policy response
• Draft advices, pleadings, correspondence and briefs that a claims manager can use
• Appear at conferences, mediations and interlocutory hearings
• Deal directly with insurer clients and, on the right files, the insured
• Work with seniors on the larger, multi-party or high-value matters

Who this is for?

An ambitious and driven defendant (or plaintiff) lawyer with2–8 years PQE.

What you get?

• A strong salary for this market
• Flexible, hybrid work as a normal way of running the practice
• A global platform: Australian files with the reach of an international insurance practice, including work connected to local and overseas underwriters
• A mixed diet of files so your advocacy, advisory and client skills all stay in use
• Training, supervision and a path that does not depend on staying on one partner’s list forever
• The ordinary professional supports that make a litigation job livable: leave, wellbeing measures, and a team that still talks to each other