Overview
This role involves managing a portfolio of complex Directors & Officers (D&O) and professional liability claims with significant financial exposure, including seven-figure reserves, settlements, or potential judgments. The position requires expertise in claims management, coverage analysis, litigation strategy, and negotiation. The successful candidate will work closely with carriers, insureds, brokers, defense and coverage counsel, mediators, and internal stakeholders.
Responsibilities
Complex D&O & Professional Liability Claims Management
- Independently manage high-severity D&O and professional liability claims from assignment through resolution.
- Evaluate liability, damages, corporate governance issues, fiduciary duty allegations, securities exposure, professional negligence, regulatory risk, coverage positions, and excess exposure.
- Analyze pleadings, demand letters, board and regulatory materials, expert reports, settlement demands, allocation issues, defense assessments, and damages evaluations.
- Develop and execute claim resolution strategies considering investigation findings, legal risk, policy obligations, litigation posture, and business objectives.
- Provide clear, independent evaluations and recommendations to carriers and internal stakeholders.
- Maintain thorough documentation of claim strategy, liability evaluation, damages analysis, reserves, coverage issues, and resolution activity.
Litigation Management & Strategy
- Oversee complex litigated claims including shareholder disputes, derivative actions, securities claims, fiduciary and management liability, professional negligence, and specialty liability matters.
- Direct and collaborate with defense counsel, coverage counsel, monitoring counsel, and other advisors on litigation strategy, discovery, expert retention, mediation preparation, and trial planning.
- Review and analyze pleadings, discovery responses, deposition summaries, expert reports, corporate and regulatory documents, mediation briefs, and trial assessments.
- Establish litigation plans, budgets, and key milestones in partnership with counsel and carriers.
- Participate actively in mediations, settlement conferences, strategy meetings, and significant litigation events.
- Provide strategic recommendations regarding settlement, continued defense, alternative dispute resolution, or trial preparation.
Coverage Analysis & Policy Interpretation
- Review and interpret D&O, professional liability, E&O, management liability, fiduciary liability, excess, umbrella, and specialty liability policies.
- Analyze policy language, endorsements, exclusions, claims-made provisions, notice issues, prior acts, insured-versus-insured issues, conduct exclusions, allocation, advancement, and retention issues.
- Provide recommendations on defense obligations, indemnity exposure, reservation of rights, coverage defenses, allocation, and settlement authority.
- Draft, review, or provide input on reservation of rights letters, coverage position letters, disclaimers, and denial letters as appropriate.
- Collaborate with coverage counsel, in-house legal teams, carriers, and internal stakeholders on complex coverage matters.
- Identify and escalate coverage disputes, bad faith concerns, excess exposure, regulatory issues, allocation disputes, and other high-risk claim developments.
Settlement, Negotiation & Resolution
- Evaluate settlement demands and develop negotiation strategies based on liability, damages, corporate governance exposure, securities risk, professional liability exposure, venue, coverage, allocation, and potential verdict exposure.
- Negotiate settlements within authority and recommend matters requiring additional approval.
- Manage reserves in accordance with carrier guidelines and claim exposure.
- Participate in mediations and settlement conferences involving high-value D&O and professional liability disputes.
- Balance legal risk, financial exposure, policy obligations, reputational considerations, and business objectives when recommending claim resolution.
Requirements
- Juris Doctor (JD) with active bar membership in good standing, or 7–10+ years of senior-level experience handling complex liability claims.
- Demonstrated experience managing claims with significant financial exposure, including seven-figure settlements, reserves, demands, or potential judgments.
- Strong litigation management experience, including directing outside counsel and developing litigation strategy.
- Expertise in evaluating liability, damages, coverage, reserves, settlement value, allocation, excess exposure, and trial risk.
- Demonstrated expertise in insurance coverage analysis and policy interpretation.
- Experience issuing, drafting, reviewing, or advising on coverage positions, including reservation of rights letters, disclaimers, or denial letters.
- Active adjuster licenses in applicable jurisdictions or ability to obtain additional licenses as required.
- Strong negotiation, analytical, documentation, and communication skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with D&O, management liability, professional liability, E&O, fiduciary liability, securities claims, shareholder litigation, derivative actions, or complex specialty liability claims.
- Experience working with defense counsel, coverage counsel, monitoring counsel, brokers, carriers, insureds, executives, and mediators.
- Experience in Major Case Unit, Complex Claims Unit, Specialty Claims Unit, or Excess Claims environments.
- Prior roles such as Claims Counsel, Coverage Counsel, National General Adjuster, Executive General Adjuster, Senior Claims Examiner, Complex Claims Specialist, or Senior Complex Claims Consultant.
- Strong understanding of bad faith risk, excess exposure, allocation, coverage litigation, regulatory exposure, reputational risk, and complex management liability evaluation.
Compensation & Benefits
- Salary range: $110,000 - $135,000 per year.
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance plans.
- 401(k) plan with employer matching.
- Paid time off policies including discretionary time off for exempt employees and paid time off for non-exempt employees.
- Paid holidays.
- Life insurance and short-term and long-term disability coverage.
Benefit offerings, eligibility, and employer contributions may vary based on role, classification, and applicable federal, state, and local laws.
Location
This is a remote position based in the United States.