The last decade has not been especially kind to insurance defense firms. Carriers have gone through a wave of consolidation, pulled more work in-house and cracked down on billing rate increases from outside counsel. And the recent wave of tort reform legislation has limited medical malpractice defense work. This has left insurance defense firms with fewer and less attractive client options.
Such market changes have forced these firms to readjust strategic thinking. Some have chosen to diversify outside the insurance defense realm, some have increased in size and volume and some have focused on more high-end insurance defense areas. But a few firms have not survived the changes or were forced to downsize operations.
