Anybody out there who is going to try to start and build their own law firm is going to need their butt covered by legal malpractice insurance. Don’t leave home without it.
Apparently, some jurisdictions (Indiana) allow you to practice law without malpractice insurance. Although I can see the argument on why the state bar association or legislature doesn’t want to interfere with how people do business, the fact is that not getting malpractice insurance when starting your law firm is just dumb.
After practicing for a little over three years, I can tell you that I was sure glad I had insurance to cover any mistakes I may have made. I was never sued, but I dealt with a lot of clients who were often not educated, not very nice, and willing to do what it takes to make a quick buck if they can. When starting a law firm, we lawyers deal with people. People have a lot of problems often caused by their own behavior. Just because you are helping them with a legal problem, that doesn’t mean that they won’t stop liking your help and decide to sue you. It is just that easy. You may know you didn’t commit malpractice, but it doesn’t matter. You just got sued. How are you going to pay defense costs? Do you know anything about malpractice defense law. I don’t.
I am trying to scare you a little bit here. I am a young attorney and I know the temptation is there to say “I don’t need malpractice insurance for a while.” It is too expensive and I’m not going to get sued after I start a law firm. That is the wrong attitude. I don’t have the cite here, but I have read that every lawyer can plan on being sued for malpractice at least once during their career.
Another thing to consider when thinking about starting your own law firm is that you may be a young attorney. You may not know too much. You are going to make mistakes. When you make those mistakes, you will not have a partner or older associate there to ask for help. Remember, when starting your own law firm, you are on your own. But, you should know this – if you have malpractice insurance, the provider often has an attorney or staff of attorneys that you can call for advice. It comes with paying for the insurance.
So, the next question becomes “how much malpractice insurance do I need to start my own law firm?” Honestly, I don’t know the answer to this question. I can tell you that I currently have $100,000.00 in single claim coverage and $250,000.00 in aggregate coverage. My deductible is $1,000.00. Now, I only have the bare minimum coverage because I only have about ten clients and most them are wrapping up before my move to Minnesota and starting my own firm. I did the math and figured out that I didn’t have a client who likely could have a compensable claim against me for more than $100,000.00. I do a lot of divorce work and my clients’ marital estates simply were not worth that much.
$100,000.00 is probably not enough insurance to have a full time law practice. One source I was reading said that any full-time practicing attorney should have at least one million dollars in single claim coverage. I only have the bare minimum because I am not practicing full time. I plan to get more when I am in Minneapolis starting my own law firm.
The next obvious question is “where do I get malpractice insurance?” The American Bar Association (ABA) has website devoted to this legal malpractice insurance and they break it down by every state. Pretty cool. Here are my choices for Minnesota insurance for when I move from Indiana and (hopefully) become licensed there.
Another important point is that you want to actually research the companies on a list like the ABA’s. I suspect most of them are just fine, but you don’t want to sign up with a company like AIG who eventually folds and leaves you in the dark after your start a law firm. I don’t know if this happens, but as a risk adverse attorney, I am going to put some due diligence into my search for a malpractice carrier. Furthermore, I want to have a relationship with them because you never know where referrals are going to come from.
In sum, I didn’t get my current malpractice insurance from any of the companies listed in the ABA’s list. I got it the way I want to get clients. I got it from a business colleague and friend of mine in Indiana. He sells insurance. He hooked me up with a good deal. I gave him some business and he has in turn given me some business and referrals over time. This kind of relationship is how I want to ultimately use to start and build my law practice.