AXIS INSURANCE SERVICES, LLC: E&O Coverage for the Legal Profession
As an attorney or law firm, you’ve been on both sides of the table: defending professionals and their work in disputes with clients and working on behalf of plaintiffs who are unhappy with a particular service or job and claim financial damages. You, too, unfortunately, can find yourself across the table as a defendant in a legal malpractice claim that without proper insurance protection will cause your bottom line and reputation to take a hit.
It’s not just large firms that face allegations of professional liability negligence. The American Bar Association estimates that attorneys at legal firms of all sizes will have at least three legal malpractice claims brought up against them in the course of their careers. Additionally, claims against lawyers have been steadily increasing in recent years, and the size of claims is also on the rise. Real estate lawyers in particular have seen a spike in claims.
Add Professional Liability for Attorneys to Your Portfolio
With Axis Insurance Services, LLC on your team, you gain the benefit of our expertise to offer tailored Errors & Omissions (E&O), or Legal Malpractice insurance, to protect your firm’s assets and reputation. Defense and indemnification coverage is provided for claims arising from “wrongful acts” committed in the rendering of legal services.
Working with leading insurance carriers in this area, we can offer large law firms with high policy and aggregate limits and specialized wording to meet the needs of individual risks and smaller and mid-size firms with coverage that is designed for their practice needs. We can enhance coverage with the following features:
- A wide range of limits and deductibles
- Disciplinary defense up to a certain amount
- Extra claims expenses
- Subpoena assistance
- Privacy breaches
- Prior acts
- Non-practicing extended reporting form (for attorneys who have retired or have ceased practicing law)
- And more
Product Overview
Working with leading insurance carriers in this area, we can offer large law firms with high policy and aggregate limits and specialized wording to meet the needs of individual risks and smaller and mid-size firms with coverage that is designed for their practice needs. We can enhance coverage with the following features:
- A wide range of limits and deductibles
- Disciplinary defense up to a certain amount
- Extra claims expenses
- Subpoena assistance
- Privacy breaches
- Prior acts
- Non-practicing extended reporting form (for attorneys who have retired or have ceased practicing law)
- And more
- Attorney & Law Firms
- Arbitration & Mediation
- Bankruptcy Trustees
- Expert Witnesses
- Foreclosure Attorneys
- Forensic Investigators
- Insurance Claims Investigators
- Litigation Support
- Trustee Services including Family Offices
Lack of communication is a common grievance aired by clients of attorneys in most all types of practices. In addition, there are other areas of interest that highlight the need for E&O insurance for attorneys and legal firms:
- 40% of legal malpractice claims involve some type of administrative error, which can include missing the statute of limitations or missing a crucial filing date
- One of the most frequently cited errors against attorneys in a legal malpractice claim is a failure to know or properly apply the law
- The real-estate practice area is the source for the largest number of claims
- Attorneys working in corporate and securities sector generated the second most claims
- Conflicts of interest continue to be the most frequent alleged malpractice error
- Failure to “calendar or follow-up” is also a common cause for a claim
- Abandonment of representation or failure to address client needs make up frequent claims
- Many lawsuits are as a result of collecting fees; when a client gets sued for unpaid legal fees, a countersuit typically follows, claiming he/she didn’t like the work performed which is why the bill is unpaid
- In recent years, claims against intellectual property attorneys have risen in both frequency and severity
