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Legal malpractice insurance can have a significant effect on the outcome of legal malpractice cases. By, law attorneys are not required to obtain legal malpractice insurance, though statistics reveal that approximately sixty percent of all legal professionals possess some from of legal malpractice insurance. Some types of legal malpractice insurance only cover certain conditions. Some provide only partial coverage and do not cover cases of fraud theft or willful injury.
If a lawyer does not have legal malpractice insurance it is possible that victims of legal malpractice will not have any legal recourse against a negligent legal professional. If a lawyer does have legal malpractice insurance typically two things can happen in a legal malpractice case. First, the legal professional''s insurance company will defend the client''s former attorney against the claims. Secondly, the insurance company will allot resources to pay the client in the event that the defendant is found guilty of medical malpractice.
Legal malpractice is defined as any act which is negligent or wrongfully executed by an attorney who causes monetary damages to his/her client. Legal malpractice can be perpetrated in any field of law. Approximately one quarter of all legal malpractice claims are filed in the area of personal injury law. Approximately 35,000 people fall victim to legal malpractice each year in the United States.
Legal malpractice can be carried out in a number of ways. An attorney can be held liable for cases where a case was dismissed because of an attorney''s negligence rather than the legitimacy of the case. Legal malpractice can also be the result of an attorney''s failure to properly or adequately pursue a case, failure to secure experts and witnesses, and failure to act before calendar deadlines and statutes of limitation. Any action or negligence on behalf of a legal professional that causes undue injury to their client is considered legal malpractice.
It is estimated that five to six percent of all private attorneys face legal malpractice charges each year. The cost of litigation is often greater than the cost of legal malpractice insurance; therefore many attorneys are beginning to seek this type of protection. Most types of legal malpractice insurance offer “claims made” protections meaning that the attorney is protected in any claim made during the policy period regardless of when the alleged malpractice took place.
While it may be more difficult for a victim to recover damages from an attorney who is not covered by legal malpractice insurance, it is still very possible. Some attorneys without legal malpractice insurance choose to represent themselves in a malpractice case. If they are found guilty of legal malpractice, they are required to pay the award determined by the court without the help of legal malpractice insurance. This absence of legal malpractice insurance can be debilitating to the attorney who must defend him/herself against malpractice claims. The absence of legal malpractice insurance can also be injurious to a plaintiff whose case can proceed into costly litigations.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has opened a probe on legal malpractice insurance. His latest inquiry is a new area of an investigation that began with accusations of bid rigging and kickbacks among insurers and brokers.
Spitzer''s i...