Attorney Malpractice Insurance

Professional Liability Insurance for Lawyers

According to the American Bar Association, “Legal malpractice is defined as any act which is negligent or wrongfully executed by an attorney who causes monetary damages to his/her client. Legal malpractice can be perpetrated in any field of law.”

Legal malpractice claims include the following:

• Failure to pursue a case properly
• Failure to arrange for experts or witnesses
• Dismissal of a case for attorney negligence
• Failure to act before statutes of limitations or calendar deadlines expire
• Any action or negligence that unduly causes loss to the client

Attorneys are not required by law to obtain legal malpractice insurance, but it is extremely beneficial to both the attorney and his or her customers.

Why Do You Attorneys Need Malpractice Insurance?

Given that you are not legally obligated to secure professional liability insurance, why do you need it? There are actually several important reasons, and the sections below discuss each reason in detail.

Defray Defense Costs

You may be supremely confident in your service as an attorney, but talent and diligence are not always enough to keep you safe from malpractice suits. An unhappy or dissatisfied customer is liable to bring a case against you whether you are technically at fault or not, and legal defense expenses can mount quickly, no matter how frivolous the action is. Any attorney in private practice is at risk of being sued, and alleged malpractice can result in thousands of dollars in legal defense costs.

An estimated five or six percent of all private practice lawyers face charges of legal malpractice every year. Since the costs of defending against the charges often far outweigh the costs of professional responsibility insurance, this type of insurance is extremely common.

By purchasing an adequate policy, you can defray the costs of defending yourself against any malpractice suit, whether or not the claim against you is justified.

Clients Require Attorneys Have Sufficient Insurance Coverage

Clients are becoming increasingly sophisticated when it comes to hiring legal representation. They know that in many cases, clients who sue their attorneys for malpractice are unable to recover more than a fraction of their losses due to a lack of law firm assets. Therefore, more and more customers require that their attorneys carry errors and omission (E&R) insurance so they know they will be covered in the event of legal negligence or performance failure. If you do not carry adequate coverage, you risk losing such customers.

Anyone in the legal profession should protect themselves from the damage a claimant can have against their firm with proper coverage. Before you purchase a new policy, reach out to Balsiger Insurance for a free quote. Our team provides the guidance and necessary information so you know the risks of not bring properly insured.

What Does Legal Liability Insurance Cover?

When choosing a quality lawyer malpractice insurance policy, you should make sure it has certain basic types of legal liability overage to protect your company against most foreseeable situations. Some of the most important types of coverage are discussed in detail in the resources below.

Claims Made Coverage: “Claims made” coverage protects you in any action brought against you while the policy period is in effect, regardless of when the alleged malpractice occurred.

Pre-claim Assistance Coverage: Pre-claim assistance covers the costs of dealing with a potential legal action. It helps you manage risk when a project starts to go wrong and a customer indicates that you are to be held accountable for financial losses.

Loss of Earnings Coverage: Loss of earnings coverage reimburses you for income you lose while resolving a claim. Typical coverage limits are $500 per day or $15,000 per year, but amounts vary by insurance carrier.

Worldwide Coverage: Legal work often requires considerable travel. Worldwide coverage protects you against legal actions resulting from errors or omissions when you provide legal services anywhere in the world, where allowable.

Pro Bono Coverage: Even when you offer your services free of charge, you are still at risk of being sued for legal malpractice. Pro bono coverage protects you when you provide low- or no-cost legal representation to others.

Network & IT Security Offense Coverage: Your law firm maintains countless files with highly sensitive data. Network & IT security offense insurance protects you against a claim of allowing a computer security breach, failure to control access to data or prevent unauthorized access, or of transmitting a computer virus. Cyber liability is an important part of risk management for a solo attorney or large firm.

Enhanced Settlement Coverage: If you reject a settlement opportunity and the client holds you responsible for higher settlement costs, enhanced settlement coverage softens the blow; the insurer pays 50 percent of the increased settlement amount.

Punitive or Exemplary Damages Coverage: If you are assigned punitive damages as part of your legal malpractice judgment, the insurer covers these damages, where allowed by law.

Of Counsel and Independent Contractor Coverage: This automatically includes members of your team who are not firm associates or partners, such as Of Counsel attorneys and independent contractors.

Crisis Expense Coverage: Crisis expense insurance covers the costs of crisis management—e.g. hiring a public relations firm—that arise out of an error or omission of yours that adversely affects a client’s reputation.

Intra-firm Professional Services Coverage: Limited intra-firm professional services coverage defrays costs of a malpractice action arising out of providing legal services within the firm, in practice areas such as estates, trusts, probate, criminal defense, domestic relations or real estate closing.

Lawyers Professional Liability Insurance

There is no question about it, today's law firms face significant challenges. Attorneys need to take their time when choosing the best lawyer malpractice insurance for risk management. A malpractice claim could bankrupt a solo firm or even a medium sized company. We have relationships with insurers who understand the legal community and can protect your firm. We have the capability to place insurance for law firms of all sizes and areas of practice.

Here are some of our unique strengths for malpractice insurance for lawyers:

• We offer access to some of the market's leading professional liability carriers
• Loss prevention programs to help reduce the risk of a claim

We Offer Professional Coverage for:

• New & Established firms
• Part-Time Attorneys
• Moonlighting attorneys
• Newly-Admitted attorneys

Available Coverage Features:

• Limits up to $10mm
• Disciplinary Proceedings
• Loss Only Deductible
• Claims Expense Outside limits

Protect Your Assets and Your Firm

The coverage types discussed above are but a few of the countless types of legal malpractice insurance available from a wide variety of insurance providers. For a comprehensive list, consult a qualified insurance broker, like Balsiger Insurance, to discuss your individual needs.

Hopefully, however, you are convinced of the value—or necessity!—of a high quality legal malpractice insurance policy for your firm or solo practice. Mistakes happen, and unhappy customers will bring frivolous actions. Moreover, before engaging legal counsel, many clients require their attorneys buy malpractice insurance so they have recourse in case the practice fails in its representation.

By crafting a liability insurance policy that meets your particular requirements, you can protect yourself against catastrophic loss in the event that (against all your plans and efforts) you do commit some form of legal malpractice. Legal liability insurance also protects you against the cost of defending nuisance lawsuits that have no legal merits, but which could nevertheless cripple your firm. This is why you need sufficient legal malpractice insurance!

Business Insurance Quotes

Balsiger Insurance is ready to handle your professional liability insurance requirements. Contact Balsiger Insurance for attorneys malpractice insurance in your state if you are located in: Nevada, Florida, Tennessee, Utah, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Georgia, Colorado, Montana, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, New Mexico, and North Carolina. We can review your current business insurance policies and go over any of the frequently asked questions about our lawyers malpractice insurance program that you might have. We can also get you insurance quotes very fast! Call our office at 1-866-872-0156 to get started!