What Else Is Covered?

Earlier today I got a call from one of our clients asking about lawyers’ professional liability insurance and whether or not it was solely intended to protect from actions arising from a professional act or failure to act that harms a client of the firm. After a few moments of understanding the direction of the question, my response was that it also included other scenarios beyond the client attorney relationship.

Included in the typical lawyers professional liability insurance policy is coverage for the acts of malpractice that are created from conditions involving the poor actions or total failure to act by the insured attorney. The benchmark standard is that of what a prudent attorney should have done or not done given the same or similar circumstances. Though our client had a good understanding of this concept, his concern was not answered until I volunteered that additional coverage extensions also exist.

The lawyers’ professional liability insurance policy also covers acts of “personal injury” committed by the insured attorney in their professional capacity. This was getting closer to the heart of my clients concern. A distinction is necessary when using the term personal injury. From a lawyer’s point of view, all acts of negligence involve some form of personal injury including bodily injury and/or property damage.

From an insurance point of view, there is a distinction between bodily injury meaning direct physical harm to one’s body or physical sphere and personal injury meaning defamation, slander and emotional harm. The lawyers professional liability insurance policy insures both professional acts and personal injury of the attorney and excludes bodily injury liability. Bodily injury liability would be insured through a business office liability policy for general slips and falls, an automobile liability policy for auto related bodily injury and a workers compensation policy for bodily injuries to employees of the firm.

On those occasions where the policies have been read and understood, there may be a fuzzy grey area around the business general liability and professional liability coverage for defamation, slander and emotional harm. Upon careful examination, personal injuries are much broader under the professional liability policy than the general business liability policy forms, many of which written for an attorneys office will contain an absolute professional liability exclusion that often extends to a total exclusion of personal injuries arising from an attorney’s office liability.

I cannot emphasize enough, it is your responsibility to read and understand what is and what is not insured through your policies. After the lawsuit, is not the time to ask questions about what else is covered!

Law Student Cafe Launches

Many thanks to Hugh Hewitt and his new website devoted to law students and new attorneys entering the field of play on the legal gridiron! Law Student Café at http://lawstudentcafe.com/ is a new and innovative community designed for law students and recent law school graduates looking for careers and work in their field of passion.

I am a listener to Hugh Hewitt on KRLA870 here in Los Angeles and heard him make several announcements about Law Student Café. He graciously linked our website to Law Student Café and you can access it from the Applegate Insurance Services web-ad. His interest in and support of his students at Chapman School of Law shines through in his daily talk-radio show and his writings at Town Hall are followed by the rest of us non-lawyers for interesting perspectives about life, faith, politics and current affairs.

Hugh, thank you again.

Malpractice Traps

On Friday, I was reviewing at long last some of the insurance industry trade publications that I follow. One of these publications is the American Agent & Broker and I was reading the September 2008 edition. AA&B was interviewing a Massachusetts insurance brokerage about their specialization in Lawyers professional liability insurance. Part of the interview included a reference to the American Bar Association “Desk Guide Legal Malpractice” and further into the Guide the Top Ten Malpractice Traps.

Curiously, I went to read the top ten traps which in the American Agent & Broker were summarized. Briefly the traps are:

1. Missing Deadlines
2. Stress and Substance Abuse
3. Poor client Relations
4. Ineffective Client Screening
5. Inadequate Research and Investigation
6. Conflicts of Interest and Conflicts of Matter
7. Inappropriate Involvement in Client Interests
8. Lack of Adequate Documentation of Work
9. Zealous Efforts to Collect a Fee
10. Unwillingness to Believe you May be Sued

The ABA Desk Guide covers many issues and the above 10 items are discussed on pages 52 to 62 and I recommend that you take a couple of moments to review these 11 pages in detail and see how your firm can incorporate this information into your risk management program. Insurance is only effective after the claim and we can help your with your insurance program. Risk management involves claims avoidance through proactive steps to prevent situations and misunderstandings that may lead to a claim. The difference between a mistake and a claim is a loss! Correct a mistake before the claim with information.