Call Us 866.940.1101 ☰ ˟
866.940.1101
Logo
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Employee Directory
    • Partners Page
    • Event Calendar
    • Refer a Friend
  • Get A Quote
  • Products
    • Lawyers Malpractice Insurance
    • Professional Liability Coverage For Attorneys
    • Accountants Professional Liability
    • Dentist Malpractice Insurance
    • Business Owners Policy
    • Cyber Liability Insurance
    • Workers Compensation Insurance
    • Title Agents E&O Insurance
    • Paralegal Malpractice Insurance
  • Testimonials
  • Common Terms
    • Common Terms
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Areas We Serve
    • Grand Rapids, MI
    • Detroit, MI
    • Lansing, MI
    • Kalamazoo, MI
Home > Blog > Law Firm adding a new attorney –Should we pick up attorneys prior Acts?
TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2016

Law Firm adding a new attorney –Should we pick up attorneys prior Acts?

Bones Church Skeleton Heads It is not a good idea to pick up an attorney’s past acts exposure for Lawyers Malpractice Insurance for a number of reasons:

1.       It immediately will increase the firm’s Lawyers Professional Liability Insurance premium.  Many Malpractice insurance carriers will add an attorney without prior acts at no cost midterm, if it is a multiple person law firm. Any change in premium will come at the next renewal.  With adding the attorney with prior acts coverage, the firm can be charged for the additional exposure immediately by the insurance carrier.

2.       Some Malpractice carriers will not add prior acts coverage for new attorneys.  This can be because of the Professional Liability Insurance Carrier’s underwriting practices, loss history of the attorney, or the past areas that the attorney practiced.

3.       If the attorney that is being added to the Lawyers Malpractice coverage is coming on as an “Of Counsel” attorney then most carriers will not honor a request for adding prior acts coverage.  One of the main reasons for this is that an “of Counsel” attorney’s coverage is only for work done on behalf of the named insured firm.  Given this, there can be no coverage for the “of counsel’s” attorneys past acts for work done outside of the firm.

4.       Most importantly, adding an attorney’s prior acts exposure can open the Law Firm up to malpractice claims from the attorney’s prior firm.  In some cases the new attorney may not have even worked on the case.  It opens up your Lawyers Professional Liability coverage up to claims that are totally outside of the new Law Firm’s control.  We have seen this have a significant impact on insurability of the Law Firm based on some of these claims from a prior firm.

Based course of action is for the new attorney to purchase an Extended Reporting Period Endorsement (Tail) for past acts.

Posted 1:11 PM

Tags: legal malpractice, attorney malpractice, lawyers professional liability insurance, claims made insurance, prior acts
Share |


No Comments


Post a Comment
Required
Required (Not Displayed)
Required


All comments are moderated and stripped of HTML.

NOTICE: This blog and website are made available by the publisher for educational and informational purposes only. It is not be used as a substitute for competent insurance, legal, or tax advice from a licensed professional in your state. By using this blog site you understand that there is no broker client relationship between you and the blog and website publisher.
Blog Archive
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2013
  • 2011

  • lawyers professional liability insurance(429)
  • attorney malpractice insurance(404)
  • attorney malpractice(337)
  • legal malpractice(225)
  • legal liability(134)
  • cyber insurance(107)
  • data breach(93)
  • ethics(87)
  • erp(58)
  • malpractice insurance(56)
  • claims(39)
  • title agency e&o(36)
  • accountant e&o(34)
  • extended reporting period endorsement(30)
  • tail(29)
  • disciplinary coverage(27)
  • phishing(25)
  • legal malpractice insurance(23)
  • prior acts(22)
  • claims made coverage(21)
  • extended reporting period(21)
  • cyber security(20)
  • cyber liability(18)
  • accountant errors & omissions(18)
  • claims reporting(18)
  • crime insurance(16)
  • ransomware(16)
  • claim prevention(16)
  • attorney protective cle(14)
  • the hartford weekly newsletter(14)
  • attorney protective cle webinar(14)
  • 2022 mcgowan pro cpe webinar for accountants(13)
  • professional liability insurance(13)
  • retirement tail(13)
  • attpro tip of the month(13)
  • business owners insurance(12)
  • mcgowan webinar series for cpas 2021(12)
  • legal liability insurance(11)
  • bop(11)
  • fee suits(10)
  • full prior acts(10)
  • cyber crime(10)
  • accountant errors & omissions insurance(10)
  • prior acts date(9)
  • insurance(9)
  • coverage(9)
  • step rating(9)
  • non-practicing erp(9)
  • cyber liability insurance(9)
  • title agent errors & omissions(9)

View Mobile Version
Logo
Quick Links
Home Our Products Customer Service Payment Options Common Terms
About Us Refer A Friend Our Carriers Blog Contact Us
Location
2430 Camelot Ct SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546

Local: 616.940.1101
Toll Free: 866.940.1101
Email: info@L2ins.com
Facebook Twitter Social LinkedIn
© Copyright. All rights reserved.
Powered by Insurance Website Builder