Legal Malpractice Insurance Coverage Considerations
Here are a number of essential professional liability insurance coverage features that may be available and should be considered when you purchase your attorneys professional liability insurance for yourself or your law firm.
- Higher limits
- Full "Prior Acts" coverage
- First dollar defense coverage
- Defense expense coverage outside limits
- Defense coverage for non-covered acts
- Defendants reimbursement coverage
- Arbitration/Mediation coverage
- Innocent insured coverage for criminal, fraudulent & malicious acts
- Coverage for attorneys that join firms during the policy period
- Coverage for "Of Counsel" attorneys
- Coverage for non-attorney employees
- Coverage for independent contractors
- Coverage for your estate, heirs, executors and administrators
- Coverage for predecessor firms
- Coverage for successors
- Disciplinary proceedings coverage
- Personal injury coverage (libel, slander etc.)
- Defendants reimbursement coverage
- Extended Reporting Period of 60 days or more
- Expanded definition of Professional Services
- Mutual choice of defense counsel
- Insured's consent to settle requirement
*Expanded Definition of professional services - most professional liability policies for lawyers provide coverage limited to professional services rendered while acting as an "attorney." This may be too narrow for you and your firm. Consider whether the definition should be expanded to include services provided while acting as a notary, arbitrator, mediator, title agent, title abstractor and/or other fiduciaries.
These features will not be available for all risks but serve as a guide to features you should be looking for in any program as they pertain to you. Your actual policy terms and conditions will govern the coverage provided by your insurer.
These features will not be available for all risks but serve as a guide to features you should be looking for in any program as they pertain to you. Your actual policy terms and conditions will govern the coverage provided by your insurer.