After more than three decades working on the insurance side of the table, David Abraham is enjoying his (partial) retirement by putting his experience to work for injured people at Osterbind Law, PLLC.
Originally from Charleston, West Virginia, David studied broadcast journalism at Marshall University before starting his professional career as a credit manager. In October 1982, he switched tracks, going to work for Allstate insurance. He came to Virginia in 2002 thanks to a transfer to the Roanoke office, where he worked another 15 years.
During his tenure with Allstate, David handled individual claims, especially casualty and bad-faith claims, managed the office’s casualty operations, and worked as both a litigation specialist and a case evaluation consultant. That work taught him how to assess the fair settlement value of claims—including complex and high-value claims—from the insurance company’s perspective. In short, David has a tremendous level of inside knowledge about the strategy and considerations of insurance adjusters and defense counsel.
But David always wanted to see what it was like on the other side of the table—a dream he was able to realize when he joined Osterbind Law as our Settlement Manager. Now, he’s able to leverage his hard-won experience to evaluate claims on behalf of individual clients, seeking to reach mutually agreeable settlements with insurance adjusters and their counsel. Thanks to his years with Allstate, David has incredible insight into what the insurance company thinks of any given case and can generally tell, from an initial offer, what an insurer is willing to resolve a case for. He also knows how to talk with insurance companies and can explain, in language that makes sense to them, why a case has a higher value than they’ve realized.
With his unique perspective, David can comprehensively counsel clients on what’s being offered and what’s likely to happen with their cases. Like the rest of the staff at Osterbind Law, David prides himself on being readily available to clients—and insurance adjusters—by phone or email, and on working as a team player for the good of all the firm’s clients.
And that’s not all David does for Osterbind Law’s clients. Since he routinely receives a copy of every client’s insurance policy, he provides a full policy review, checking for insufficient limits and advising clients about coverages they might want to add.
As hard as he works for Osterbind Law, David is also taking the time to enjoy his semi-retirement. He regularly plays basketball with a recreational league in addition to golfing and traveling. David is a deacon at Bonsack Baptist Church and serves in the Parking Lot Ministry and on the Usher Committee. David has been married for 38 years; his wife works locally as a mental health counselor and, as David likes to say, he’s her best client! They have a daughter who works as an audiologist.
