How do I evaluate an insurance dispute attorney in California?

Verify active licensure through the State Bar of California, then ask which side the practice serves, policyholder or insurer, since the perspectives rarely mix. Strong signals: the attorney reads the full policy before opining, asks for the claim file, works on contingency where appropriate, and calendars the 12-month suit clause immediately.

Insurance is a two-sided bar, so the first question is alignment: some California firms represent policyholders, others defend insurers, and the experience is not interchangeable. Confirm active licensure and a clean record through the State Bar of California (Business and Professions Code section 6125), then evaluate substance. A careful attorney will ask for the complete policy, every form and endorsement, and the full claim correspondence before venturing an opinion, because coverage lives in the policy language. Ask how the attorney approaches the contractual 12-month suit deadline on property claims (Insurance Code section 2071) and its tolling, whether appraisal or a Department of Insurance complaint fits before suit, and what facts would turn the file from underpayment into bad faith. On fees, contingency arrangements are common on the policyholder side and must satisfy Business and Professions Code section 6147; ask how costs and any Brandt fee recovery interact with the percentage. Finally, ask who will actually work the file and how status will be reported.

Authority: Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 6125; State Bar of California