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.
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, auto-glass filings fell off a cliff while 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 | 1–2 yr | 3–4 yr | 5–7 yr | 8–14 yr | 15+ yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base range | $115–140K | $125–170K | $120–190K | $135–215K | $150–225K |
| 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?
You'll usually see a shortlist within days, and most associate-level defense searches close in about five to six weeks. Insurance defense is our deepest practice, so we're often already in conversation with candidates at the band you need before you call. Your calendar sets the pace after that. Firms that keep second-round interviews inside a week hire the mid-level associates every other panel firm is chasing.
What should we pay an insurance defense associate?
It depends on years of experience and your market. The table on this page gives the base range and the median we see at mid-size and regional firms, taken from our own placements and candidate conversations in 2026. Budget toward the low-to-mid part of the range for your band, since that's where accepted offers cluster. Bonus structure varies far more than base does and sits on top of it.
How do we compete with commercial firms that pay more?
Sell the work rather than the number. Depositions in year one, arguing your own motions, a realistic path to first chair, and a caseload figure you hold to are things a commercial litigation associate at a larger firm often waits years for. Defense candidates ask about file count early in a call, so answer it with a number. Firms that do win candidates away from firms paying more.
What do you check before sending us a defense candidate?
Files carried, depositions taken in the past year, motions argued, and trial or arbitration exposure. We confirm how much of their work ran under carrier billing guidelines, since an attorney who has never written to a claims professional costs a firm in write-offs while they learn. We ask the real reason they're leaving. Every candidate you see has already been interviewed by us.
Do you place defense partners and trial attorneys, or only associates?
Both. Associate-level searches make up most of the volume, and we also fill trial attorney seats, coverage counsel roles, and defense partner and practice group lead hires. Partner-level defense searches run longer and stay confidential, and carrier relationships weigh more heavily at that level than anywhere in the associate bands. Our lateral partner page covers how those searches are structured.
Which insurance defense markets are you strongest in?
Florida first, then Georgia, Texas, California, and New York, with the deepest metro coverage in Tampa Bay, Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Orlando. We recruit nationwide from Tampa. If you're hiring somewhere our coverage is thinner, we'll tell you on the first call and give you a read on what the pool there looks like.
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.