Professional Liability Defense Associate

Distinct | North America; California; Remote; USD 150,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bar dues covered

CLEs covered

Job summary

Distinct | North America seeks a Professional Liability Defense Associate to defend malpractice claims for lawyers, accountants and architects, fully remote from California. The role focuses on defending negligence claims and ethics complaints from notice to resolution, with occasional depositions and insurer interactions.

You will handle coverage issues and work with firms on risk management before problems arise, while meeting the high standards expected by the firm.

Qualifications

• At least three years in civil litigation, professional liability or coverage.
• California bar card is required.

Responsibilities

• Defend malpractice claims for lawyers, accountants and architects from notice to resolution.
• Take depositions of witnesses and experts as needed; argue matters before juries and courts.
• Review and coordinate with insurers on coverage issues; discuss risk with firms before issues arise.

Skills

Civil litigation experience

Professional liability/coverage

Deposition and negotiation

Education

California Bar card

Job description

Professional Liability Defense Associate | Fully Remote, California | $150,000 to $195,000

Defending a lawyer in a malpractice case is a funny old job, because your client knows exactly what a deposition is and will tell you afterwards how they'd have run it.

The clients here are lawyers, accountants and now and again an architect, people who were very well thought of by their own clients right up until one of them sued. You'd handle the negligence claims and the ethics complaints from the first notice to the end, and take depositions of people who do much the same job as you and will argue with how you've put the question. There's coverage in it as well, going through the policy that sits behind each claim, and a slice of the work is sitting down with firms about risk before anything's gone wrong. Those are the nice meetings, because nobody's been sued yet.

It's fully remote from anywhere in California, and the whole practice works like that, so you won't be the one person on the video call everyone forgets is there. The pay is $150,000 to $195,000 and they cover your bar dues and CLEs.

They'd like at least three years in civil litigation, professional liability or coverage, and a California bar card. You'd also want the knack of telling a senior partner at another firm that their judgment is about to be pulled apart in front of a jury, and still have them trust you when you hang up.