Legal Malpractice

Do Texas Attorneys have Legal Malpractice Insurance, and Do Texans Care?

By (Andrew Lavoott Bluestone)

This article from The Statesman.com discusses news about a special group of lawyers, appointed by the Texas Supreme Court  who are to vote today.  They are looking at " a proposal that could require lawyers to tell clients whether they have malpractice insurance.

The idea would seem to have a lot going for it. Legal malpractice insurers estimate that at least half of all Texas lawyers — and about two-thirds of sole practitioners — don't have insurance, leaving clients who been harmed by malpractice without much recourse. "

From the article:

"Public support is deep: Seventy percent of respondents favored the proposal in a poll the State Bar of Texas conducted in April, and 80 percent said the issue was "very" or "moderately" important to them. The American Bar Association endorses the idea, and 23 states have some form of disclosure requirement.

Still, the proposal is far from a sure thing, having drawn opposition from small-firm lawyers and the president-elect of the State Bar, Fort Worth lawyer Roland Johnson.

Sole practitioners and lawyers in small firms complain about the cost of malpractice insurance and argue that clients will be more inclined to file a malpractice claim if they know insurance coverage is there.

"I believe it's fairly self-evident that any disclosure of carrying insurance is like painting a target on your back," said Charles Awalt, a Plano sole practitioner and a director of the State Bar's general practice, solo and small-firm section.

"I don't think it gives clients a piece of information that is useful," added Charles Hood, a lawyer in Port Lavaca. "Are you not going to hire a good lawyer because he doesn't have malpractice insurance? Or because he doesn't have enough?"

The vast majority of lawyers without insurance are sole practitioners or work in small firms of two to five lawyers, according to the State Bar.

There are about 80,000 licensed Texas lawyers; the disclosure would apply to the approximately 49,000 who are in private practice. "

Full post as published by New York Attorney Malpractice Blog on May 21, 2008 (boomark / email).