Hire insurance defense attorneys who can carry the caseload.
Insurance defense is the deepest practice in our network. We recruit associates, senior associates, and partners for defense firms and carrier panel firms, and we screen for what decides whether a hire survives the file count: depositions taken, motions argued, trial exposure, and how they work under carrier guidelines.
- Our deepest practice, from first-year associates through trial partners.
- Screened on caseload volume, deposition and motion practice, and carrier-guideline fluency.
- Current base salary ranges for defense associates by experience band, on this page.
- Contingency. You pay when someone starts, not before.
The associate pool behind Am Law searches
Our associate pool includes associates from Am Law 100 and 200 firms. Am Law 100 and Am Law 200 firms already recruit through us.
- Am Law 100
- firms we recruit for, several in the top half
- Am Law 200
- firms we recruit for as well
- 14,000+
- lawyers at the firms we recruit for
- 45 states
- where the attorneys we represent practice
Mid-size and regional associates report medians of about $130,000 at 3 to 4 years and $150,000 at 5 to 7 years, with commercial litigation and corporate/M&A reporting more than insurance defense. At Big Law firms, the published scale runs $235,000 for first-years to $455,000 for eighth-years.
Defense hiring never stops, because defense turnover never stops.
Insurance defense runs on volume. Files arrive on a schedule the carriers set, billable targets are high, and the work holds up through every part of the economic cycle. That's why the same firms hire at the same experience bands year after year. Attorneys burn out on file counts, leave for a commercial firm paying more, or take a coverage or claims seat with a carrier, and the chair opens again. Florida shows how the demand shifts rather than disappears: after HB 837, commercial casualty hiring never slowed, and the state now supports two separate defense markets.
The pay gap with commercial firms is real and you probably won't close it. What works is being specific about what your seat offers that a bigger commercial firm won't hand a mid-level associate: depositions in the first year, arguing your own motions, a path to first chair well before year eight, and a caseload cap you hold to. Candidates ask about file count in the first ten minutes of a call. A firm that answers with a number and honors it takes hires away from better-paying firms. The table below shows where offers land at mid-size and regional firms now.
| Experience | 1 to 2 yrs | 3 to 4 yrs | 5 to 7 yrs | 8 to 14 yrs | 15+ yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base range | $115K to $140K | $125K to $170K | $120K to $190K | $135K to $215K | $150K to $225K |
| Typical | $130K | $150K | $150K | $175K | $200K |
Mid-size and regional firms, base salary only. Drawn from our own placement and interview data, 2026. Bonus structures vary widely and sit on top of these figures.
Two defense resumes can look identical and be nothing alike.
A resume tells you where somebody worked. It doesn't tell you how many files they carried, how many depositions they took last year, or whether they've sat second chair at a trial. We ask all of it before a candidate reaches you, because a five-year associate with sixty open files and thirty depositions behind them is a different hire from a five-year associate who has been drafting motions for a partner. Carrier-guideline fluency is the second screen. An attorney who has worked under panel counsel guidelines knows what gets billed, what gets cut, and how to write a status report a claims professional can use. That takes a year to build, and firms that skip it pay for it in write-offs.
Trial exposure is worth paying up for at every level, and it gets scarcer each year as fewer cases reach a courtroom. If your firm still tries cases, lead with that in the first conversation. It's the strongest thing a defense firm can put in front of a mid-level associate who is watching their own trial clock and wondering whether they'll ever get one. The seats below are the ones we fill most often, with the profile that usually fits each.
| Insurance defense seat | Who usually fills it |
|---|---|
| First- and second-year associate | A recent admittee out of a clerkship or a smaller firm, or a lateral from another panel firm looking for better training. Plan to teach carrier guidelines and billing from scratch. |
| Mid-level associate, three to five years | The most contested band in defense hiring. Look for independent deposition volume and files carried alone. Most of these candidates are leaving over file count or pay. |
| Senior associate, six to nine years | An attorney running a full caseload with little supervision, often moving because the partner track at their firm is blocked or the trial work has dried up. |
| Trial attorney | First-chair verdicts on the resume. Frequently a former prosecutor or public defender, or a senior defense associate whose firm settles everything before a jury is picked. |
| Coverage counsel | Policy interpretation and declaratory judgment experience, usually from a carrier's staff counsel office or a coverage boutique. |
| Defense partner or practice group lead | A senior defense attorney with carrier relationships, hired to open a line of business or take over a group. Portable panel relationships weigh more here than in the associate bands. |
The candidate you want is already talking to other firms.
Every panel firm in your market hires at the same bands you do, so a mid-level associate with real deposition volume has several conversations running within a week of starting to look. We get a shortlist to you within days, and most associate-level defense searches close in about five to six weeks. The delay is rarely on the recruiting side. It's a second round that takes nine days to schedule, or an offer waiting on a partner meeting. Tighten those two and you'll win candidates you would otherwise lose to a firm that answered first.
Market events move the bands too. Texas defense firms started paying above their old ranges for senior trial talent after tort reform stalled in 2025, and firms holding to last year's numbers watched candidates go elsewhere. Tell us your band before the role is posted and we'll tell you whether it clears the market where you're hiring, plus what you can put on the table besides money if it doesn't.
How fast can you fill an insurance defense associate role?
What should we pay an insurance defense associate?
How do we compete with commercial firms that pay more?
What do you check before sending us a defense candidate?
Do you place defense partners and trial attorneys, or only associates?
Which insurance defense markets are you strongest in?
Hiring defense attorneys this quarter?
Send us the experience band, the market, and the caseload. We'll tell you who's available now and where your offer sits against the firms you're bidding against.