The 19th century writer Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that a good lawyer is not the man who has an eye to every side and angle of contingency, and qualifies all his qualifications, but who throws himself on your part so heartily that he can get you out of a scrape.

Sounds apt, but the problem for insurers is that finding one that fits Emerson's definition can be more work than the case itself. But to use another famous saying, necessity is the mother of invention, and so came about the Council on Ethical Billing (CEB), a newly formed organization that seeks to create a repository of trained and qualified insurance defense attorneys across the U.S for insurers to consult.

“I've spent 20 years in risk management, and what I've found was working as the corporate risk manager, it was always difficult to find good insurance defense organizations and attorneys,” said Adam Potter, who is executive director of CEB. “The overall goal of the organization is to identify, train, and certify insurance defense firms and attorneys. We are developing a resource directory so that when insurers need to appoint defense attorneys, they can go to our database and know that an attorney listed there has been nominated, taken the training, and received our certification.”

Potter noted that all attorneys must first be nominated by someone who is already a member of the organization. Once accepted, the nominee must complete two hours of continuing education credits conducted through the organization before they are officially admitted. “We do that to ensure an insurance defense attorney is taking classes relating to litigation management ethics in billing as opposed to any other type of CLE credit,” said Potter.

In a move to standardize member criteria, the CEB recently announced its advisory board, which consists of executives from companies such as AIG, Fireman's Fund, Medmarc, Metlife, OneBeacon, The Hartford, and Zurich. Current Claims columnist Kevin Quinley is a member of the board and explained why the organization is important for claim professionals.

“I think CEB will help claim professionals elevate their level of litigation management skills,” said Quinley. “A big part of claim handling today is working with and managing outside counsel, specifically defense counsel. This organization will raise awareness among claim professionals of litigation management as a distinct and separate discipline within the claim field by providing them with educational and training opportunities. It also will foster collaborative instead of adversarial strategies to improve litigation management costs, service, and claim outcomes.”

CEB Annual Conference

The Council on Ethical Billing will hold its first annual conference on March 13-14 at the Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate, located in Orlando, Fla. The two-day program features 14 educational sessions on ethics-related topics, along with an opening keynote address by Samford University School of Law Professor William Ross. Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno also will be on hand to accept the organization's Canons of Ethics award.

Who: The Council on Ethical Billing

What: 1st Annual Conference

When: March 13-14, 2008

Where: Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate

Registration: www.ethicalbilling.org

Special Reports /

A New Voice for Ethics

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