insurance law

Tim is an insurance law expert.  Tim worked in insurance law at “Big Law” firms in both Australia and the United States – including Herbert Smith Freehills in Sydney and Clyde & Co in Los Angeles – and has worked in-house for major global insurance companies such as Allianz and Starr Insurance.  Tim has written numerous articles and given presentations about current issues and developments in insurance law, and was awarded a High Distinction in Insurance Contract Law during his Master of Laws studies.  He is well known and highly regarded in the insurance law communities in Australia and the United States.

Tim has extensive experience advising insurance companies, insurance brokers and policyholders on a range of insurance law issues including:

• policy coverage advice for both insurers and policyholders in a range of product lines including professional liability, commercial general liability, employment practices liability, auto liability, property damage, construction defects, business interruption, Industrial Special Risk (“ISR”) policies, and other first and third-party lines;

• providing complex policy coverage advice to insurers, including reviewing claims submissions, investigating claims and corresponding with insureds, and providing substantive coverage and liability analysis reports including analysis of the judicial interpretation of policy terms, reserve recommendations, strategy for the resolution of claims, and drafting reservation of rights and coverage position letters to insureds;

• on behalf of commercial and retail policyholders and insurance brokers, investigating claims, preparing claims submissions, and negotiating the settlement of claims with insurance companies;

• representing policyholders and insurers in disputed claims and bad faith litigation;

• representing insurers in high-value subrogated recovery actions, including in relation to catastrophic losses arising from wildfires, floods, construction defects, and medical malpractice claims;

• undertaking corporate risk assessments and advising on insurance programs for corporate policyholders; and

• defending policyholders against allegations by insurance companies of misrepresentation, non-disclosure, fraudulent claims, and other issues.

Tim’s former clients include global insurance companies such as AXIS, Allianz, Chubb and Zurich and he has worked in-house at Starr Insurance and Allianz.  Tim has worked side-by-side with insurance claims managers and knows the insurance claims process intimately. As a result, Tim knows how insurance companies review claims, why insurance companies decline claims, and how to get insurance companies to pay claims. Over the course of his career, Tim has successfully secured millions of dollars’ worth of insurance claim payouts for policyholder clients in disputes with their insurance companies.

Insurance law – whether acting for insurance companies or policyholders – is dominated by large law firms charging high rates for impersonal “churn and burn” service.  Tim provides the same “Big Law” insurance expertise and experience but at an affordable rate and with the efficiency, accessibility and personal attention of a small practice.