Litigation guidelines set the operating rules for panel and appointed defense counsel. They typically require early case evaluation and budgets, prior approval for depositions, experts, motions, and travel, prescribed reporting intervals, and staffing restrictions.
They function alongside separate billing guidelines that govern rates, task coding, and invoice format.
Alternative Names:
Defense Counsel Guidelines
Why it Matters?
Guidelines directly shape defense strategy, and the tension they create is real: counsel owes professional duties to the insured, not to the carrier paying the bill. Where a guideline would require counsel to forgo work the insured's defense genuinely requires, most authorities hold the ethical obligation to the client controls and the restriction must be challenged rather than silently followed.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What if litigation guidelines conflict with the insured's defense needs?
Do guidelines apply when the insured is defending within a self-insured retention?
