Aug 3, 2026 · 53 min · 15 segments
Host Chad McLain interviews veteran Oklahoma trial lawyer Joseph Farris, who has spent 50 years practicing law—primarily defending insured businesses and individuals in high-stakes personal injury…
Joe FarrisGuest
Chad McLainHost
Your client is the lawyer, although an insurance company is the one who engages you.
Yeah, the explanation you just gave is one I've always been super interested in on the defense side, because obviously they're Generally, most of the time, that's not a real hard distinction to make, right? The person that you're talking to is the individual, the driver of the vehicle, the owner of the business or whatever.
But I would imagine there are times when that distinction becomes really difficult when maybe the individual's interests or desires are not aligned with what this insurance company's interests and desires are, right? Lots of
The worst is when facts come to your attention that implicate the coverage that your client has.
But what you do in that situation is you have to tell both sides that there is a conflict that has arisen and you can't disclose to the insurance company what that issue is.
Now, it may come out as a matter of testimony or documents that show it, and that kind of takes the heat off of you.
But in those cases, the insurance company will typically hire another lawyer to represent their interests because they're in conflict.
And I have seen lawyers, unfortunately, who don't realize their first duty is to the insured, not the insurance company, and they have actually... ratted out their client to the insurance company.
Your client is the lawyer, although an insurance company is the one who engages you.
Yeah, the explanation you just gave is one I've always been super interested in on the defense side, because obviously they're Generally, most of the time, that's not a real hard distinction to make, right? The person that you're talking to is the individual, the driver of the vehicle, the owner of the business or whatever.
But I would imagine there are times when that distinction becomes really difficult when maybe the individual's interests or desires are not aligned with what this insurance company's interests and desires are, right? Lots of
The worst is when facts come to your attention that implicate the coverage that your client has.
But what you do in that situation is you have to tell both sides that there is a conflict that has arisen and you can't disclose to the insurance company what that issue is.
Now, it may come out as a matter of testimony or documents that show it, and that kind of takes the heat off of you.
But in those cases, the insurance company will typically hire another lawyer to represent their interests because they're in conflict.
And I have seen lawyers, unfortunately, who don't realize their first duty is to the insured, not the insurance company, and they have actually... ratted out their client to the insurance company.
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