September 2018

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Selling insurance, campus by campus


by Kate Tilley, Resolve Editor


AILA Young Professionals representative Dan Robinson is on a mission to sell the insurance industry across university campuses.

Dan, 31, a senior associate at Clyde & Co, in Sydney, initially got involved with the YPs by joining the NSW YP subcommittee, then became co-convenor of the national YP subcommittee and he is now the national board's ex officio YP member.

Dan says his AILA board membership helps the rest of the board "stay engaged with YPs".

He told Resolve the YP subcommittee offered a good mix of networking and educational events. "I am passionate about engaging with YPs in the industry, it's a great industry to be part of and very collegial."

He said YPs get the opportunity to meet people in all aspects of the market, including lawyers, brokers, underwriters, reinsurers, claims handlers and loss adjusters, enabling them to broaden their industry networks.

YP education programs target soft skill development, not just technical skills, for example, critical thinking and presentation skills, which Dan says are "uniform skills needed throughout the industry".

Dan says he "ended up in insurance by chance not design" but discovered it is "a very rewarding and interesting area to work in".

He wants to share that knowledge. "I am keen to progress engagement with students and not just in law faculties. I want to market the industry to uni students, many of whom are unaware of how many jobs are related to insurance."

Dan aims to sell the industry across uni campuses, including to accounting and business students.

"In 2019 we'll focus on further inroads into law societies, direct engagement on campuses, promoting the university law prizes, and potentially broadening the Victorian mentoring program to other states," he told Resolve.

Dan joined Clyde & Co in 2013 and professional highlights since then include:

• Successfully defending an insurer in a high-profile litigated declinature on legal representation expenses under a D&O policy. Dan instructed counsel directly at the hearing and the judgement is now a leading D&O authority in Australia.
• Being lead associate acting for co-insurers in two class actions brought against a debenture trustee in liquidation.
• Successfully defending a former finance company director against a disqualification action brought by the corporate regulator.
• Lead associate for two partners on coverage issues arising from a large global property insurance loss in 2013.
• Three external secondments with clients, including one in a risk and compliance team.
• Three internal placements to Clyde & Co offices in San Francisco, Singapore, and London.
• In 2016, winning the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Award in the insurance category.

Dan says it is "great to be part of a global network and discuss developments in overseas jurisdictions and their relevance to the Australian market".

Dan and his long-term partner, Melissa Tan, a lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright, met at an insurance event but it was not an AILA function. There's friendly rivalry between the pair. "Technically, we're competitors," Dan told Resolve.

Dan is a Macquarie University graduate and now completing a Masters of Law (Commercial Law) at Melbourne University.

Having grown up on Sydney's northern beaches, he's keen on spear fishing and free diving and enjoys a game of golf.

Dan's goal is to be a partner in insurance law. "It's a long road and needs a lot of luck," he says.

But Dan's impressive start to his career indicates he's probably on the right path to achieve his ambition.

 
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Resolve is the official publication of the Australian Insurance Law Association and
the New Zealand Insurance Law Association.