Insurance Litigation

Nathaniel Lacy & Partners have vast experience in Defence insurance litigation and have been providing legal advice to a wide number of insurance companies since 1960. We currently have contracts to provide insurance legal services to, among others, the Irish Public Bodies (exclusive contract for Meath County Council), AXA Insurance, The Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland, Quinn Direct Insurance, Royal & Sun Alliance, Sertus Insurance, Europa Insurance, IUS Insurance, FBD Insurance, and Zurich Insurance. We provide a pro-active and cost effective service to our clients which includes initial file analysis and reporting, regular reviews, liability and quantum consultations where necessary and full communication with our clients on a regular basis .

Our service is countrywide with the Kells and Dublin offices covering claims in Leinster, the North-East and North–West and the Cashel Office covering claims in Southern Ireland. In relation to personnel, the litigation department of the firm consists of John Lacy, the Managing Partner and Coroner for Co. Meath, Nathaniel Lacy, his son, and Johanna Lacy, his daughter, who operates the Tipperary office. Thea Carolan, a former nurse, who joined the firm from the Medical Negligence Department in A&L Goodbody five years ago also works in this department. The Blanchardstown Office is operated by Elizabeth Lacy, sister of John Lacy.

In addition to the “start to end” litigation advisory service (including costs negotiation), we have recently begun providing pre-litigation services to some of our clients. This involves advising on, amongst other things, the initial claim investigation, suspect fraud referral, initial investigation in relation to loss of earnings claims to date and into the future, pre-Injuries Board settlement, initial liability opinion, advice on acceptance/rejection of Injuries Board assessment and advice on acceptance/rejection of Injuries Board award. We are finding this very beneficial as it gets us involved at the very early stage of a claim and through certain early actions, particularly in relation to LOE claims to date and into the future, substantial savings can be made on both Damages and the ensuing legal costs. We also find that establishing an early relationship with a claimant’s solicitor can bring about an earlier resolution of the case with an ultimate saving on both damages and costs to our clients.

We also specialise on advising our clients in relation to High Value Claims. These claims are very costly to our clients and require specialist expertise. With the recent downturn in the construction industry we have noticed a sharp increase in LOE claims into the future which require particular scrutiny and a proactive approach from the Defence. Furthermore cases involving future care, aids and adaptations, and medical inflation all require specialist expertise as they can result in significant alterations to our client’s potential exposure. As mentioned above through early expert investigation and a proactive approach from the Defence, substantial savings can be made on Damages and the ensuing legal costs.

If you would like to contact us in relation to Insurance Litigation, please contact John at jblacy@nlacy.ie or Nat at natlacy@nlacy.ie, in Kells or Johanna in Cashel at johanna@nlacy.ie.