Why do lawyers need professional liability insurance?
Although the duties of lawyers frequently involve defending clients in court, lawyers themselves can become the defendants in a professional liability lawsuit. Their mistakes can result in their clients losing a lot of money, because of which they can be sued for professional negligence.
Lawyers and Professional Liability Insurance
Lawyers are paid for and therefore, have the professional duty of representing, defending and/or advising their clients by working in their interest. Failure to perform these duties can result in a catastrophic loss for the client, which the lawyer could have otherwise avoided.
As a result, the client can sue the lawyer for professional negligence, which can not only have a financially devastating impact on the legal professional, but also result in them being expelled from the bar.
The Prevention - Errors and Omissions Insurance
The only way to prevent this from happening is to purchase a policy specifically designed to protect legal professionals from professional liability lawsuits. That is not to say that professional liability insurance will nip all liability insurance claims at the bud - but it will provide the necessary financial protection of covering all defense costs and paying liability compensation up to the policy limits on behalf of the insured lawyer in the event of a professional liability lawsuit.
Errors and omissions insurance is a policy form designed for any type of professional who is exposed to a high risk of being sued for professional negligence and whose duty includes exercising a high degree of care for others.
Specialists, such as consultants, architects, engineers, real estate brokers, insurance agents, accountants and many more can purchase errors and omissions insurance and forget about their worries - even if they do make a mistake out of negligence, they will be covered under the policy. Lawyers fall into this category and they can buy special lawyers' errors and omissions insurance policy that fits in with their personalized needs.
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