Despite your best efforts, a client might be unhappy or disappointed with the results of your work and feel the need to sue. While some claims might be frivolous, it’s best to have the right coverage to protect your law firm and bottom line. Professional liability insurance, sometimes called malpractice or errors and omissions insurance, is vital for every small to mid-sized firm and might be required to obtain, depending on the jurisdiction. Here’s everything you need to know about professional liability insurance for lawyers.
What Does Professional Liability Insurance Cover?
Professional liability insurance is one of the most important types of coverage a law firm should have. It’s a type of coverage that protects attorneys and law firms from claims that their services caused a client financial harm due to mistakes or because someone failed to provide adequate service. Professional liability insurance for lawyers covers the cost of defending an attorney or legal practice in a civil suit.
Even with the staff and attorneys following all of the proper procedures and protocols, a client might be dissatisfied that the case was not ruled in their favor and feel justified to file a malpractice suit. Typical causes for clients filing malpractice suits:
- Misfiled paperwork
- Negligence or misrepresentation
- Missing deadlines
- Failure to know the law
- Inadequate investigation
- Conflicts of interest
What Isn’t Covered By Professional Liability Insurance
For professional liability insurance, it’s not a one-size-fits-all type of coverage. Professional Liability insurance is commonly written to cover specific risks that occur in the insured’s industry.
Some of the common areas of concern in a policy that are typically not covered:
- Prior acts: Will the insurance carrier cover claims from activities that occurred before purchasing the policy?
- Non-firm legal activities: Will the policy cover pro-bono cases or individual legal work claims?
- Business activities: Typically, law firms need a separate policy to provide coverage for outside risks like workplace injuries.
Cases of fraud, criminal behavior, claims between attorneys from the same law firm, undisclosed claims prior to the policy taking effect are generally not covered in professional liability insurance.
Get The Right Coverage With Biscayne Risk
Having the right insurance policies in place is imperative for every industry and organization, particularly those more susceptible to lawsuits, such as attorneys and law firms. It’s better to be protected in every way than to experience an unforeseen circumstance that puts the law practice and its employees at risk.
With Biscayne Risk & Insurance Group, we are here to aid in assessing any risks associated with your business and help create the right course of action for your needs. We understand how overwhelming choosing the right policy can be and we offer our services to assist in any way we can. Contact us today to see how we can help get the right coverage for your law firm.