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subject: Useful Information About Legal Malpractice Insurance [print this page]


It is believed that every lawyer or attorney irrespective of whether he runs his own practice or he is employed by a huge firm gets sued for malpractice at least once during his career. If an attorney fails to buy legal malpractice insurance and when he is sued he will be at a major financial loss without proper coverage. The attorney will have to lose his personal assets to cover the legal expenses and compensation if the case is not in his favor. If a lawyer hesitates to buy legal malpractice insurance because of the huge cost and increasing premiums then the compensation that needs to be given to his client will be in hundreds and thousands of dollars.

Any lawyer who owes a duty to his client is required to provide proper service according to the standards established in the law community. A Negligent error, breach of contract or duty made by a professional attorney with the required skill and knowledge becomes a serious issue as the client has to face damages or injuries because of the attorney's act. No matter how experienced an attorney is there is no guarantee that he will never be sued for malpractice. Being covered under legal malpractice insurance will give him protection as well peace of mind. It's better to be well prepared in advance rather than facing a sudden blow in case a lawsuit is filed against an attorney.

Compared to normal insurance policies, buying legal malpractice insurance is quite expensive. Due to the increasing cost of legal malpractice insurance attorneys face the difficulty of buying such a policy as it consumes most of their income to pay the premium. Due to increased rate of professional malpractice crisis, lawyers are bound to take professional liability insurance. People who just step out of law schools and start their practice initially are not financially stable to purchase legal malpractice insurance but if they are employed by a huge firm then they will not have the burden of paying the entire premium amount. Solo practitioners who are not in a position to buy such coverage quit their practice as it becomes difficult for them to pay huge premiums.

There are specialized insurance brokers who deal in malpractice insurance for professional attorneys. Quotations can be compared online so that the best coverage may be obtained. Insurance brokers have a tie up with the best carriers so that the lawyers do not have to pay higher premium rates. Solo practitioners as well as lawyers working at huge law firms can get the best legal malpractice insurance from such reputed carriers. Huge law firms can enjoy the benefit of paying premium at a discounted rate. The premium rate is calculated based on factors such as experience and training, claim history and the area of practice.

by: Sunil Punjabi




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