Because Lawyers Need Protection Also

Right now, when most Americans are fast gaining exposure and insight on legal malpractice, many legal professionals stand to face lawsuits from their clients more than they did before. If you take a look at the existing statistics of these particular incidents, you would be surprised to find out that out of one hundred lawyers, four to five of them face a legal malpractice lawsuit in any given year. Naturally, this can be bad for law firms that employ more than 20 law professionals, since this roughly translates to at least one lawsuit in a year. Because of this disconcerting trend, and the enormous amount of discomfort that this may potentially bring, lawyers are now turning to legal malpractice insurance to couch the amount of grievance that they might experience in the event of this adverse circumstance.

   

The first question that a lawyer needs to ask about this insurance type is whether or not this coverage is similar to other insurance policies out there. In some respects, it may just be like other insurance plans, but the main difference between this insurance and a regular insurance is that the latter assures coverage in case an event, like an accident or sudden hospitalization, occurs while the legal malpractice insurance covers a lawyer for a lawsuit that is lodged against him for a specified policy period. This means that the insurance company may opt to disregard the case history of its client, except of course when it falls within the policy duration.

The next important question that a lawyer needs to know about this insurance type is the protection benefits that it can give him/her. This is an important consideration since a legal malpractice ordeal is obviously not a walk in the park, in fact, a law practitioner does not only stand to lose money in these legal battles, but he/she even loses valuable time. On average, the figure that can be billed per case ranges somewhere from 200 to 300 hours, this means that the insurance policy protects a law professional for every lawsuit that he/she has to face.

Cost is another concern when it comes to legal malpractice insurance, but for the most part, a policy’s cost is largely influenced by the level of risk that is involved in a lawyer’s profession. When the law professional, for example, is into real estate or banking, the insurance cost may be relatively higher compared to a regular coverage cost. However, even when this is the case for the most part, this type of insurance is still much sought for it covers certain important areas of legal operations.

It is for these reasons, and presumably a lot more, that a lawyer would need to avail of legal malpractice insurance. Sure, it may initially require a certain amount for one to benefit from this coverage, but the eventual protection and monetary assistance, for sure, outweigh this initial payment in the event of a lawsuit in the future.