The Texas Lawyer reports that the Grievance Oversight Committee, which is appointed by the Texas Supreme Court, recently recommended that the court adopt a rule requiring lawyers who do not carry legal malpractice insurance to disclose their lack of coverage to clients.
This has been a controversial issue for several years in Texas. Personally, I’ve had malpractice insurance since I began practice, so a decision either way won’t affect me. There are interesting arguments both for and against, and I’m sure there will be many voices heard in the next few weeks. Here is the beginning of the article:
In June 2008, the State Bar of Texas board of directors balked at taking a position on whether to require lawyers to disclose whether they have professional liability insurance coverage after a Bar task force that studied the issue voted 6-5 against recommending such a rule. The task force took that vote in May 2008.
But the State Bar may have to take another look at the issue. In its June 1 report to the Supreme Court, the oversight committee recommended that the high court direct the State Bar to implement a rule requiring a lawyer in private practice, when engaged by a client, to inform the client in writing if the lawyer does not have professional liability coverage with limits acceptable to the Bar — for instance, insurance in the amount of at least $100,000 per claim and $300,000 in the aggregate. The committee further recommended that, if an attorney’s insurance lapses or is terminated during the representation, he or she notify the client of that fact.
More than requiring lawyers to disclose whether they have insurance, I think Texas lawyers should be required to carry insurance. Disclosure shouldn’t be an issue.
We have to have a certain level of education, we have to pass tests, we have to maintain our licenses. All of these are measures to ultimately protect our clients. Why should we also not be required to maintain insurance to protect them?
Just my 2 cents. But then again, I think that doctors should also be required to carry a certain amount of insurance and auto policy minimums should be much higher, so maybe I am just crazy.
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You’re not crazy Jim. I think malpractice insurance could be made mandatory, just like continuing legal education is. Of course the odds of that happening are very slim.