Personal Injury Law

Should states require attorneys practicing in their state to have insurance?

By Troy Schwant

Our office has handled a significant number of legal malpractice cases over the years, and lately it is becoming apparent that attorneys that play fast and loose with the rules of law, are also practicing law without malpractice insurance. More and more attorneys are willing to run this risk because if faced with a potential lawsuit, they can tell their former client, "If you sue me, you won't receive a penny, Im in debt with the bank, and I don't have insurance." A former client's case may have been dismissed due to their lawyer's mistake, and now the former client will feel like they have no recourse, and this situation needs to change.

States across the country have enacted laws that require drivers to have automobile insurance. Shouldn't states require lawyers to have insurance as a prerequisite to practicing law? By requiring attorneys to have insurance, it would provide former clients with the ability to right a lawyer's wrong. Currently lawyers do not have to carry insurance to practice law, and in my opinion, this needs to change. Hopefully states will begin looking at legislation that will require lawyers to carry insurance in order to practice law. If you feel strongly about this, contact your local state representative and tell them that they need to protect their constituents from attorneys that practice law without insurance.

Full post as published by Mobile Personal Injury Lawyer on March 21, 2010 (boomark / email).