Employed Lawyers Insurance Explained

Employed Lawyers Insurance

The adage “You can be sued for anything these days” may be all too familiar for attorneys. However, many in-house attorneys fail to purchase Employed Lawyers Insurance aka Employed Lawyers Professional Liability Coverage to protect themselves against potential lawsuits. Even though most claims are brought on by clients, employed lawyers are also subject to suits from third parties, such as employees, shareholders, government agencies, etc. So, what’s an organization to do? Well, it is imperative that a successful organization and its legal staff recognize their real legal risks and then purchase employed lawyers insurance to protect against those risks.

Risks Facing In-House Counsel

  • In-House Counsel at private companies face exposures when performing contract negotiations, giving advice to human resources professionals, assisting with mergers, reviewing contractual language, etc.
  • Since electronic information is discoverable, it must be stored and preserved just like paper documents once were. In-house counsel should work with IT professionals to ensure compliance with this rule.
  • Clients may sue over a contract that did not work in their favour which the in-house counsel had a hand in writing.
  • Terminated employees may sue the employers and name the in-house counsel for negligence.
  • In-house counsel are also at risk when performing moonlighting services or pro-bono work.

To protect against these risks, it is wise to purchase Employed Lawyers Insurance.

Employed Lawyers Insurance Protection

The Typical Employed Lawyers Insurance Policy May Include The Following:

  • Covers costs for claims brought by the employer, board of directors and officers.
  • Protection from demands, suits or proceedings for damages or injunctive relief.
  • Policy may be written as either a “claims made” or “claims made and reported” and on a “duty to defend” or “non-duty to defend” basis.
  • Responds to licensing proceedings for in-house counsel to practice law.
  • Provides defence against claims alleging wrongful acts, negligence, errors and or omissions.
  • Extends to cover pro-bono or moonlighting work done by in-house counsel.
  • Includes full-time on-staff counsel and contract and independent contract lawyers and support staff members.
  • Advance of defence costs, even if allegations are found to be groundless
  • Global Coverage Territory.
  • Coverage for non-client claims.
  • Coverage for regulatory claims.
  • Punitive damages coverage.
  • Covers claims from coworkers that arise out of the lawyers work at the organization.

Employed Lawyers Insurance is an excellent way for in-house counsel to protect themselves and their families from risk while they work to protect their employer from risk. Call 1-866-287-0448 to speak to an ALIGNED Insurance Advocate to learn more about employed lawyers insurance and other insurance solutions for your organization.

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