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Home > Blog > Attorney Malpractice—Don’t get rained on P.S. an Umbrella will not help
FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2017

Attorney Malpractice—Don’t get rained on P.S. an Umbrella will not help

Commercial or Personal lines Umbrella Coverage is a must for any person or entity that is trying to protect their assets.  After you have worked hard to acquire you assets, you do not want them all taken away because you were uninsured or underinsured.  Not only does an Umbrella step in and provide liability coverage where general liability and auto insurance do not, it is a relatively inexpensive way to increase your general liability limits.

Unfortunately, Umbrellas (Commercial or Personal) do not provide any coverage for Attorney Malpractice.  Umbrella policies actually specifically excluded most professional liability insurance including Attorney Professional Liability Insurance.  Umbrella policies mostly are  “Occurrence policies” where Attorney Malpractice policies are “Claims Made.”  Even if there were not the exclusions, mixing Occurrence and Claims Made coverage on the same exposure will lead to coverage gaps.  If you have an Umbrella policy thinking you have extended coverage for Attorney Malpractice, when the claim comes you will rained on.

Excess Liability Policies that are specifically designed to provide additional “claims made” coverage for Lawyer Professional Liability Insurance Policies.   Unlike an umbrella policy an excess liability policies to will not fill liability coverage gaps.  Care also must be taken because there are generally 3 variations of excess insurance coverage:

1.       The excess policy that has its one definitions of what is and is not covered is one variation.  Only after a through reading of both the primary and excess policies will you be able to determine was is and is not covered.  Do not be surprised if there are not hidden coverage gaps.

2.       An Excess Policies that “states” that it is “following form”, but has endorsements or policy wording that takes away coverage in certain instances.

3.       The “True” “following form” policy.  This policy makes it clear that it is adopting the terms and conditions on the primary policy and there are not additional endorsements that remove coverage.

Even with the true “Following Form” policy one must be careful about prior acts dates.  In some cases you end up with a split retro.  This can be painful, is you are looking for coverage on a large claim only to find out that the excess policies retro date excludes coverage for this act.

So for many law firms that are trying to obtain higher limits to protect their assets, they need the Umbrella for the general liability coverage and the Excess Policy for the Attorney Malpractice Coverage.

Posted 12:59 PM

Tags: umbrella insurance; excess coverage
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2 Comments

blind attorney said...
I work as an attorney employee of a solo who does not carry any malpractice insurance. Is there any way I can get my own personal legal malpractice insurance in case I am sued as a co-defendant of the solo?
FRIDAY, MAY 01 2020 5:24 PM
Justin Norcross, JD, CPIA said...
The coverage goes with the named insured firm so all of the firms employees need to be covered. The problem covering one attorney and not another at a firm is that the insurance carrier will still end up being on the hook so they end up having to rate for the firm as a whole rather than just one small piece of the firm. So no, generally you are not able to get coverage on your own for work you are doing for that firm. I would recommend the whole firm carry coverage, that way when a claim does come up you are not having to worry about the cost of defense and the cost of potential liability.

Many times coverage is not as expensive as attorneys imagine.

If you are interested in getting a quote, please complete our short indication form at the link below:
https://www.l2insuranceagency.com/malpractice/lawyers.aspx

Thank you!

Justin Norcross, JD, CPIA
FRIDAY, MAY 01 2020 7:32 PM

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