Lawyers don’t always have the best reputation among the general public, but Shine Lawyers do things differently, entirely shunning the corporate dollar to lend their voice—and expertise—to everyday Joes.
“We act for individual people, not large corporations,” Angela Parlane, Managing Director of Shine Lawyers, proudly tells Verve. “We provide access to justice for those that wouldn’t ordinarily be able to stand up for themselves, including people taking on a corporate giant or the government. We never act for insurance companies or for banks or large corporates. That’s our point of difference.”
Little wonder then that their principled stance has attracted the attention of Erin Brockovich, who serves as brand ambassador for this innovative law firm. “I picked Shine Lawyers to partner with because they get it,” she says. “Shine care about people; they have families of their own. They respect the law and protect those that have been hurt.”
No Job Too Big
The Auckland- and Christchurch-based legal firm specialises in civil and insurance-related litigation, helping thousands of people across Aotearoa “get the justice they deserve”.
In Christchurch, their team of lawyers are revered for their formidable representation of hundreds of homeowners against the EQC where they were successful in the representative court action against the Commission for substandard repairs of homes following the quakes. “We weren’t afraid to take on the NZ government and through the legal pressure Shine exerted, a resolution was reached that not only helped our clients, but all Cantabrians who purchased a quake damaged home scoped, assessed or ‘fixed’ by EQC.”
Suing insurance companies who fail to pay claims is Shine’s bread and butter. “It can be extremely daunting for people to take on their insurance companies,” says Angela. “Insurance companies make money by selling as many policies as possible and charging premiums. They don’t make as much money if they pay out on claims. So, what that means is at claim time, an insurance company is going to look and see how they can decline it or avoid paying. It’s really just a question of economics for many insurers.”
The most common method for rejection of a claim is through “the interpretation of wording” of the policy and if the claim falls into a policy exclusion an insurance company will reject the claim. Angela says that some paragraphs of an insurance policy say what an insurer will cover, but the bulk of the policy is the exclusion section.
“At Shine Lawyers we look at whether or not a declined claim is valid based on the policy wording and 9 times out of ten, on cases that come across our desks, the declinature is incorrect and it’s a question of interpretation.
“Another tactic insurance companies deploy if they accept a claim, is to pay out as little as possible or say you’re only covered for a minimal amount. It might sound legit, but if you don’t know where to look, or you don’t know that you can do something about it, you’ll just bend over. So, that’s where we come in. We can help a client stand up against the claims tactics of insurance companies so a client gets a better deal.”
Angela is well-versed in tactics employed by insurers having previously worked for their lawyers: “I learnt all of the tricks of the trade early on in my career acting for insurance companies—the insurance companies will often send the claims to their lawyers first to find a way of declining them.”
Apart from insurance law, Angela reveals that the lockdowns and general stress of the Covid era has been a catalyst for employment law, divorce and separations. Shine saw a need to add a relationship property practice to their offerings and its employment practice is thriving. Shine also acts for clients in claims to do with real estate agents, professional service providers such as valuers, engineers, and other lawyers, and have recently launched a practice helping survivors of abuse in state care, churches and schools.
Looking Out For The Little Guy
Like Angela, many of her Shine team have also worked on the other side for the insurers so are all familiar with the tactics used to decline claims—and between them, they have decades of invaluable litigation experience.
“Our tenacity and commitment to client service mean that we will leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice,” says Angela. “We will do everything we can to help you secure the result you are entitled to.”
Not taking the large corporate dollar also means that Shine Lawyers need to get creative in their revolutionary approach to justice.
“Most legal firms target those big clients because they pay the big bills,” says Angela. “So, we need to be quite innovative in how we charge for our time because not everyone can afford it”.
Shine has worked closely with litigation funders in cases it has run and has undertaken work on a pro-bono basis, deferred fee or funded some actions themselves.
“Our firm values are to always stand up for the little guy, to dare to be different, and be ahead of the pack. We go above and beyond in what we do, and, most importantly, are not afraid of anyone.”
Angela Parlane: Both Sides Of The Bar
- Angela Parlane has been practising law since 1994, beginning in a rural firm before moving to Auckland.
- She joined Shine Lawyers in early 2018, having run her own boutique practice, Parlane Law, which specialised in civil litigation, insurance litigation and building defect cases, for the best part of a decade.
- She has extensive experience in leaky homes and earthquake cases having represented many Christchurch homeowners in disputes with EQC and their insurers.
- Angela also has international experience, having worked in Switzerland on an arbitration tribunal established to decide claims to bank accounts from the World War II era (the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Bank Accounts in Switzerland).
- She later worked in Lloyd’s of London before moving back to Switzerland as in-house counsel for a large corporation.
- Angela is commentator on legal matters for the national press and has appeared on Fair Go and Breakfast television.
- Angela is Managing Director of Shine Lawyers NZ Limited.
