Litigation Attorney

Distinct | North America; Raleigh (NC); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Distinct Recruitment represents a reputable Raleigh firm specializing in insurance coverage matters. The Associate will read policy language, spot exclusions, and craft coverage opinions used by a claims team to decide what gets paid.

They’ll perform duty-to-defend analyses and provide reservations of rights, along with guidance on potential bad-faith exposure under North Carolina law. This Hybrid role sits in a growing coverage team serving the Carolinas, with partnership opportunities and a

Qualifications

• 2 to 5 years in insurance coverage or insurance defense.
• North Carolina bar admission; South Carolina admission is a plus.
• Sharp writing and arguments that turn on a defined term.

Responsibilities

• Read policy language closely to identify exclusions and advise on coverage.
• Prepare coverage opinions used by a claims team to determine payments.
• Conduct duty to defend analysis and advise on reservations of rights.
• Provide bad faith exposure guidance under North Carolina law (and South Carolina if admitted).
• Handle declaratory judgment actions and bad faith claims in state and federal court.

Skills

Coverage analysis

Job description

Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Associate | Raleigh, NC (Hybrid) | $150,000 to $210,000

• You read the policy before anyone asks. You spot the exclusion. You flag the reservation of rights problem.
• Then the file moves on, and someone else answers the question you found.
• On this Raleigh coverage team, the answer is yours to write.

Why this seat, why now

• I’m Clark Pollins at Distinct Recruitment, recruiting for an established full service firm with a dedicated coverage team in Raleigh.
• I placed an attorney with this team in June. They’re loving it, and that’s the best reference I can give you.
• The team has kept growing since. The seat is open because the work outgrew the headcount, not because someone left.

What crosses your desk

• Policy language, read closely, so carriers know exactly where they stand
• Coverage opinions a claims team uses to decide what gets paid
• Duty to defend analysis and reservations of rights
• Bad faith exposure advice under North Carolina law, and South Carolina if you’re admitted there
• Declaratory judgment actions and bad faith claims in state and federal court
• Advice before a dispute starts, and litigation when it doesn’t resolve

Coming from insurance defense?

• You’ve defended insureds and kept noticing the coverage questions underneath.
• The firm genuinely considers defense attorneys for this seat. It’s a real route in.

Already in coverage?

• You work directly with the partner who runs the team, on files where your analysis is the one the carrier reads.

The people around you

• Carriers across the Carolinas already know this group, so you start with relationships in place and build your own on top of them.
• The attorneys here have made coverage their career. You learn from them on live files.
• Coverage is the practice here, not a stop on the way to something else.
• Partnership is earned through your work. Build your practice and the path is open.

Pay, hours and your week

• $150,000 to $210,000. The firm is hiring at two levels: around 2 to 3 years in, and 4 to 5. Your experience sets where you land.
• Some attorneys here receive a guaranteed year end bonus. Ask me what’s on the table for you.
• 1,850 billable hours
• Hybrid, with real flexibility in how you split your week. Easy to work from Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, Wake Forest or anywhere in the Triangle.

What you’ll bring

• 2 to 5 years in insurance coverage or insurance defense
• Familiarity with duty to defend analysis, reservations of rights or declaratory judgment work, or a real appetite to learn it
• North Carolina bar admission. South Carolina admission is a big plus, since the team covers both states.
• Sharp writing, and a liking for arguments that turn on one defined term