Lawyer - In House, Professional Indemnity/Insurance

PII claims lawyer with a strong insurance background required to join an established PII claims team in Manchester. This team is an integral part of the European arm of our client’s Fortune 500 insurance business. 

The successful candidate can look forward to a rewarding and stimulating career with an international market leader in this sector.  You will be expected quickly to engage with decision makers and clients across and outside the business and build and manage those relationships.  Capable of managing a large workload and taking decisions which deliver the right commercial outcome every time, you will also have the communication skills and personality to influence and win support from the front line to the boardroom.

The Role?

We are looking for an outstanding candidate with contentious and claims experience gained in the insurance industry.  Knowledge and experience of PII claims will be an advantage as this role will work on professional negligence claims against legal clients and other professionals.  Reinforcing this experience will be a firm grasp of the commercial drivers of this industry.  You will work with a team of legally qualified claims professionals dealing with a range of financial lines cases - pre-action and litigated - which could include Solicitors PI, Management Liability, Cyber and Financial Institution claims.  You will work closely with clients, underwriters, actuarial partners and brokers to deliver effective outcomes.  In particular, this role will require you to:

• Provide market leading claims service working closely with the Professional Risks Claim team and the broader business to deliver and enhance the claim offering.
• Open new claims and sets reserves; carrying out early, appropriate investigations in respect of policy coverage, liability and quantum and provide legal assistance as necessary.
• Negotiate settlement of claims and communicate on cover.
• Ensure that vendors provide a market leading, cost effective service to both insured and the company by continually monitoring their performance, cost and quality.
• Maintain a close working liaison with underwriters and risk management, and where appropriate, promote the interests of our clients by working with other business areas.
• Collaborate with Underwriting and Actuarial partners on portfolio, risk mitigation, policy language, and claim trends.
• Partner with Underwriting to sell and market business and strengthen external client relationships.
• Attend the Insured and Brokers and promote the values of the department and the company and the services that it provides.

You?

A strong technical legal background is important and this is likely to have been gained within private practice and/or the insurance sector.  You will have been involved with litigation and ADR with exposure to the UK PII market.   Lawyers with less than 2 years PQE are unlikely to have acquired the experience needed, but if you are exceptional, please convince us!  A thorough understanding of insurance must be combined with the demonstrable ability to grasp the bigger picture and identify solutions to complex issues, as well as a clear understanding of risk management.  You will not be comfortable sitting on fences and will be able to deliver clear and well thought through opinions on complex issues.

Complementing your technical expertise, you will need to demonstrate that you have strong customer service skills.  You will have the ability to consistently deliver a great experience in every customer contact; connect with the right partners internally to find creative solutions to problems; be a role model and behave in a way that actively supports an inclusive work environment; and consistently deliver on your commitments.  We would also like to see a clear track record of managing key client accounts.

How to apply or find out more? 

The position is open now so if this appeals to you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

If you would like to understand more about this role, please call our consultant Nick Benson (who is a solicitor) for a confidential conversation: 020 3743 0600 or send your CV via the section below.

Ortolan Group is an employment consultancy acting on behalf of our client.