Strategies, Challenges, and Answers

Organization Of Opinion Letters

Just last week, I provided a client (let’s call her Mary Smith) a coverage opinion letter relating to one of her company’s claims.

Ms. Smith called to thank me for the opinion letter and discuss its contents.  At the end of the conversation Ms. Smith thanked me, not for the content, but for the organization of the opinion letter.

830112_files_2 Mary recited the story that we hear much too often in the insurance industry.  She said that she had recently received an opinion from another firm.  The letter was over 100 pages long dealing with esoteric questions of law.  She said that she searched the letter over and could not find a section that was entitled summary or conclusion.  Mary said she spent a long time looking to try to find and understand the recommendation of the attorney.

In contrast, she appreciated my letter.  She found the the opinion of our office and the plan of handling the claim both at the beginning and the end of the letter.  It also detailed why the recommended strategy was appropriate for this particular case.

This has been the format of coverage opinion letters at Mills and Associates for almost 10 years.

Ms. Smith went on to say that sometimes lawyers write to the adjusters and make them feel as though they are middle schoolers.  She appreciated how easy it was to read the letter and to find the opinions and recommendations.

We at Mills and Associates try to make all of our opinions readable and understandable.

Although there are issues of law that the Nevada courts may have not answered, we will always do our best to identify those situations and make our recommendations as accessible and understandable as possible.