Mistakes happen! Legal Malpractice Insurance (also referred to as Professional Liability Insurance for Attorneys) is designed to protect you, as the attorney, from actual or alleged errors, acts, and omissions that result in damages (including financial loss) to your clients.
How Does Legal Malpractice Insurance Work?
Usually, in order for you to be covered, you need legal malpractice insurance at the time the claim is made against you and it must be on or after the retroactive date of your insurance policy. The retroactive date is the beginning date of when you will be covered.
For example, let us assume you got a legal malpractice insurance policy for 1/1/2019 to 1/1/2020 with a retroactive date of 1/1/2015. On 7/1/2019 a previous client filed a claim against you for an alleged error you committed on 3/5/2016. Since you currently have a policy that covers the date of the claim and because you have a retroactive date of 1/1/2015 which covers the date of the alleged occurrence of the error, your malpractice insurance should kick in to protect you for the 3/5/2016 incident that was filed against you in July of 2019.
Continuing with the above example. The following year (2020) you decided not to renew your legal malpractice insurance and just let it expire. All of the sudden on March 3, 2020, your former client files a case against you for an error you made on his case back in 2019. Even though your error occurred during a time that you had insurance you will NOT be covered because the claim was filed in March of 2020, which was during a time you did not have active malpractice insurance.
The above examples illustrate the benefit of maintaining the earliest retroactive date possible (preferably the date you begin to practice) and contingently renewing your policy before it expires. In addition to being protected from claims brought against you, malpractice insurance is also a requirement if you want to receive new client referrals from the State Bar of Michigan. However, probably the greatest benefit of having malpractice insurance or Professional Liability Insurance is the peace of mind it brings. When you come home from a hard day at work, you can lay down in bed and sleep easy knowing you are protected against malpractice claims.
WHY SHOULD YOU CONTACT E&Y AGENCY, LLC. FOR LEGAL MALPRACTICE INSURANCE?
E&Y is an independent insurance agency that represents many financially sound and well-respected insurance companies. Therefore, we are in a position to shop through different insurance companies and find you the best coverage at the most competitive price.
Unsure of your need for professional liability or errors and omissions insurance? Contact an insurance professional who can help you weigh the options and can find the best policy at the best price.
