HUNTINGTON – Fewer students are applying to law school but those who do apply tend to be the best prepared in decades, according to a recent recipient of a Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia award.
"Overall, law school applications are down nationwide and many law schools have experienced a decline in the mean LSAT scores of their entering classes," Lee Hall of Jenkins Fenstermaker in Huntington told The West Virginia Record in an email interview. "These factors suggest that many students perceive that law is not as attractive a career option as it was a decade ago.
Lee Hall of Jenkins Fenstermaker in Huntington
| Photo courtesy of Jenkins Fenstermaker
"Despite these statistics, many law graduates are smarter, better read, more worldly and well-traveled and have a broader range of life experiences than any of us did 30 years ago. New attorneys come to us with a wide variety of educational and employment experiences that bring immediate value to our clients and their cases.
"For example, we have attorneys with backgrounds in real estate, epidemiology, journalism, biology, chemistry, insurance and engineering, all of whom are interested in and involved in cases referred to us by insurance companies."
Hall was awarded the 2016 Defense Trial Counsel Lawyer of the Year award by the Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia during its 34th annual meeting June 12-15 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Hall, a native of Owensboro, Kentucky, is a 1990 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law who joined Jenkins Fenstermaker after three years with Brown Todd and Heyburn in Louisville. Lee's focus at Jenkins Fenstermaker is on insurance coverage, insurance defense and bad faith defense.
"Insurance defense encompasses the full spectrum of litigation because of most of our clients elect to transfer some portion of their risks through the issue of insurance products," Hall said. "Our clients insure their product liability, municipal liability, real estate, aviation, employment, trademark, transportation, professional liability, cyber and technology, and workplace safety risks, in addition to their general liability risks.
"Our attorneys find this work challenging, interesting, educational, and rewarding. The young attorneys working here – and the ones I see at other firms – appear to really enjoy the complexity and variety of work that is referred to us by insurance carriers."
Hall handles many types of cases referred by insurance carriers and specializes in insurance coverage.
"I analyze the policy terms to assess whether claims fall within or outside the terms of the policy," Hall said. "Given the wide range of insurance products available on the market, and the number of admitted and non-admitted carriers, many of whom have proprietary or manuscripted forms, the analysis process is complex.
"I certainly didn’t come by it naturally. Jack Jenkins Jr. was of counsel at the firm when I joined in 1993. Shortly after I joined, he asked what I was working on. I replied that I had written a memo on whether someone was a resident of a household for purposes of coverage under an automobile policy. He said, 'Oh, so you are our new insurance coverage attorney. Good. That is what you should do.' So I did."
Hall said her progress was slow at first, comprising a small percentage of her work, but it has grown over the years.
"The practice gives me a chance to work with really bright attorneys on both sides of cases all over the United States," she said. "In addition, it often allows me to counsel clients to avoid litigation, assist with policy drafting suggestions, and even broker resolutions in large cases. The industry and the law evolve continuously so we learn something new in almost every matter."
Hall also lectures before professional groups on statutory and regulatory insurance issues, insurance climate and tort reform. She gave presentations for NBI and Lorman on litigating insurance coverage disputes in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014 and to the Independent Insurance Agents of West Virginia on agent/broker liability for the past three years.
Hall also has produced articles on changes in statutory and regulatory insurance law, bad faith, contract interpretation and updates from the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
Hall was Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia president in 2010 and 2011 and founded and served as chair of the Insurance Committee for the group . Hall currently is vice president of the West Virginia Board of Law Examiners and is a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel and the International Association of Defense Counsel. She also is a past president of the Cabell County Bar Association.
Hall recommended that up-and-coming attorneys, especially women, interested in pursuing a legal career cultivate a healthy sense of curiosity.
"Curiosity is important for any attorney at any age and any gender, and this is particularly important when you handle the breadth of cases referred by insurance carriers," Hall said. "My partners refer to me, somewhat condescendingly, as Nancy Drew because of my incessant questions and sleuthing.
"Our young attorneys have even better sleuthing skills than I do! Curiosity drives us to learn our clients’ businesses and products, to question rationales, and to question what is missing from a picture and why.
"We can teach people to write well, and even to speak well, but we cannot teach them to be curious. So we really try to vet this skill in the interview process and foster it once they arrive."