Clockwise photos: Nick and his mum enjoy cheering for the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba; the Tuhtan family, Adrian, Sarah, Nick and Julia, enjoy a holiday; Sarah participates in a panel session at WICA2023; Sarah with BMS-Bluebook colleagues Sharyn Irwin and Hunter Gapes; and sports-mad Nick proudly displays his prize as Player of the Week.

President swaps law firms for brokerage

Profile: Sarah Tuhtan, AILA Qld President
by Resolve Editor Kate Tilley

After a decade with national insurance law firms, Sarah Tuhtan sought a view from the other side.

She veered away from the traditional path towards partnership and joined brokerage Bluebook in 2020 as in-house legal counsel. Today she’s Head of Legal & Claims (Qld) for BMS–Bluebook, which specialises in placing and managing general liability and professional risk insurance for the corporate sector. (Global broker BMS Group bought Bluebook in July 2023, its sixth Australian acquisition in 12 months.)

After graduating from the Queensland University of Technology with dual degrees in international business and law, Sarah spent 2008 as a graduate at McInnes Wilson then went to Moray & Agnew for three years and Carter Newell for almost eight.

“I represented Australian and international insurers, third party claims administrators, brokers, underwriting agencies and corporate insureds and gained invaluable experience in managing complex litigated claims,” she told Resolve.

“That experience enabled me to provide advice geared towards the commercial settlement of claims for the benefit of all stakeholders in the insurance process.”

Sarah had excellent mentors at the law firms and gained wide experience across casualty claims and litigation. But, having reached a level of proficiency, she wanted “a broader exposure to the commercial world”.

Legal perspectives

“I was interested in the insured’s commercial and reputational stake in the claims process and the broker’s critical position in protecting that as an advocate for the insured. Often, as a defendant lawyer, the insured’s position is viewed as balanced against the interests of the insurer,” Sarah says.

“That can lead to seeing only part of the picture. Frequently I saw that it was often the broker who could step in and act as a true voice for the insured.”

Bluebook, established by Peter Apolakiatis in 2018, was a brokerage Sarah had dealt with and she was impressed by the proactive claims support it provided to its mix of corporate clients.

Peter, a passionate advocate for his clients, identified the need for his brokers to understand the legal perspectives of contractual risk, insurance coverage, policy response, and claims management, as a way of enhancing services. He brought Sarah on board to impart that knowledge.

“My role provides critical guidance to brokers at the front end of major corporate accounts, examining coverage, risk and claims management issues,” she says. “It’s been a real learning experience and I am glad a lawyer’s perspective can assist our brokers and add value to Bluebook’s existing service offering.”

But Sarah missed “the companionship of other lawyers and bouncing ideas around”. She attended the 2021 AILA Qld insurance law intensive and was impressed with the calibre of the speakers, the variety of topics discussed and the enthusiasm of those involved in AILA.

Learning curve

She joined, took on a committee role in November 2021 and was then persuaded by the immediate past president to become president in December 2022.

“It has been an incredible learning curve and everything I learn at AILA helps with my work, it’s all interconnected. Being part of AILA has enabled me to connect with other insurance professionals and discuss emerging areas of insurance I may not otherwise have been exposed to.”

Sarah’s excited about Qld hosting the 2024 national conference on the Gold Coast in mid-September.

She’s passionate about providing legal education to the insurance industry and enjoys the ability to present and organise insurance law topics of interest to brokers and insurers.

“The interplay between contractual risk and policy indemnity and developments in the law in the interpretation of indemnity clauses and insurance covenants in multi-party disputes is of particular interest to me,” she says.

Outside the law

Sarah and her husband Adrian, an engineer, are parents to an extroverted pair – son Nick, 9, and daughter Julia, 6.

Sarah and Adrian first met at Italian classes. “He’s fluent but was improving written grammatical skills, and I was planning a trip to Italy with girlfriends.”

Nick is sports mad, playing AFL, soccer and cricket. Julia’s a dancer and both learn the piano and swim in summer. In time, Sarah hopes the kids also take on Italian language classes.

Sarah married into a “boisterous” Italian family, many of whom are also lawyers. Sarah has a family link, too. Her father studied law and influenced his daughter’s choice of career path.

The Italian flavour is also present in Sarah’s love of cooking. “We make a lot of traditional pasta dishes together.” Panissa, a rustic northern Italian risotto, is her ‘go to’ and she has just mastered limoncello amaretti biscuits, following a family trip to the Amalfi Coast this year.

But rest assured, Sarah’s not leaving insurance to star on MasterChef. “I cook for friends and family only – I have no plans to open a restaurant,” she told Resolve with a laugh.