Leaving a job you have been at for nearly two decades can feel scary, but when the perfect opportunity comes along, you have to take it. Stuart Wright loved working at Intact Insurance for seventeen years, where he helped grow a team of six in the Toronto office into a team of over 200 lawyers across 12 offices in Canada. Even so, when the pandemic hit in spring 2020, Stuart’s desire for a new challenge grew stronger.
Saying goodbye to his friends and comfortable life at Intact in May 2021 was hard, but the chance to take on the role of National Director of Aon’s Legal and Research Practice group was exactly what Stuart needed.
Stuart started his legal career as a small fish in a big pond, working in insurance defence at a private firm. He wanted to be a lawyer from the age of 13 and was drawn to litigation in law school. A self-proclaimed “glutton for punishment”, Stuart competed in several moots through school and the experience he gained landed him an articling position with Lerner’s LLP – a leading boutique litigation firm in Toronto. He formed a bond with a partner at the firm who practiced insurance defence, and it became an area that he excelled in as well. By the end of the articling term, the firm offered Stuart an associate role.
After 4 years with Lerners LLP, Stuart jumped from the big pond to a smaller one, where he could grow to be a bigger fish. When Stuart started working for Intact, in-house defence litigation teams were a new concept. When new limitation period legislation was passed, Stuart became the company’s expert in it, and he also became the go-to for legal questions in municipal defence and professional errors and omissions, among other topics. When Stuart joined Intact, working in-house was seen as an option for people who couldn’t “hack it” at private firms. He has happily seen the attitude shift and now, there is real competition for jobs in the in-house insurance industry. Stuart likes that things like billable hours don’t exist when you work in-house, and many others feel the same.
As with any new shiny thing, after 17 years, Stuart felt his shine starting to fade. There were now a few hundred fish in the pond, and although Stuart loved his time at Intact, he was ready for something different.
When Stuart gave his resignation in 2021, there was shock in the office. It was a huge decision. Not only was he leaving the comfort of a wonderful workplace, but in accepting a job with Aon, he was switching sides.
With Intact, Stuart worked to defend the insurer or insured against claims brought by other parties. But with Aon, he now works with brokers and clients to help them get the best insurance policies possible. Stuart’s team is affectionately referred to as the LARP. No, not as in Live Action Role Playing – but Stuart jokes that there is role playing involved in the job. He has to put himself in the place of the client to understand and fully consider their needs. Insurance companies create policies with some broad exclusions. A big part of Stuart’s job is trying to narrow these exclusions for Aon’s clients and brokers. He also consults with brokers and clients to help them with a wide range of questions about insurance coverage.
Aon is the second biggest brokerage firm in the world and with that comes a lot of interesting issues. In the short time Stuart has been with the company, he has worked on a variety of matters; from tech companies wanting insurance protection that expands with them throughout the globe, to insurance companies limiting new business within the vicinity of forest fires in BC. In his last job, Stuart dealt primarily with car accidents and slips and falls. He is now proving that old dogs can learn new tricks.
Stuart only worked in private practice for a small part of his career, but he is fully aware of the pros and cons of in-house and has always been confident in his choice. Does he have a wine cellar and a fleet of exotic sports cars? No. But he owns a nice house in the suburbs with a backyard and a swimming pool, where he happily spends most of his free time with his four kids. And he can keep all of his kids in hockey gear (including 3 goalies!).
Working in-house works well for Stuart’s schedule as well. He has been working from home since he started his job at Aon and although that meant some interruptions by his kids, he enjoys the freedom to make them lunch, bring them to hockey practice, or tell them when they’ve had enough screen time. If family life takes Stuart away from his desk for too much of the day, he can catch up in the evening. He occasionally works long hours, but in no way do they compare to the private practice hours he worked.
When Stuart recently saw someone tweet that they were feeling self-conscious about not having a 5 or 10 year plan, he reflected on his own journey. Throughout his legal career, he found that it was important to be aware of how the road in front of him was developing and where it was leading to, but still leave room to go off track. He does not have a 5 year plan and that is okay.
It’s important to take things as you see them coming, do not force yourself into a way of practicing just because you have been told it is right, and do not focus on artificial targets.
If you want to be a partner at a big corporate law firm, that’s great. But realize that is the NHL of Canadian law. Only a small percentage of lawyers end up there and it requires many sacrifices. What is your second or third choice? Be prepared to end up somewhere else and feel proud of that accomplishment.
If you are new to law but know that litigation excites you, Stuart recommends giving insurance defence a try. You will get a lot of exposure to the courtroom, interacting with clients and participating in discoveries in very interesting files. It can lead to a long career in private practice or working in-house in a litigation department, which could transition into a role in the business side of the insurance company or maybe even a role in the broker side of the industry. Whatever your goal is, go for it but try to be flexible along the way for your own sanity. Very few people hit every target they set for themselves or live their 10 year plan to the letter. But you, like Stuart, might find yourself happily moving from pond to pond and growing your skillset, long into your career.