It is a good idea for all law firms of all sizes to have malpractice insurance, and we all know that comes at a price. In 2002 the ABA published a paper called "Controlling Legal Malpractice Insurance Cost and Availability in a Changing Marketplace".
It focuses on eight parts of the firm, that with a few focused efforts can drive down the cost of your malpractice insurance.
- Docket & Calendar Control
- Mail Handling
- Conflict of Interest Avoidance
- Serving as Corporate Director/Officer
- File Opening Procedure
- Fees & Billing Practices
- Work Product Control/PeerReview
- Client Selection
We see the third focus area is Conflicts of Interest Avoidance. Since this is our wheelhouse, we should take responsibility and actively participate in lowering malpractice costs.
Here's the CliffsNotes of what's recommended in this article:
- Be familiar with the Model & Code for Conflicts of Interest
- Keep current with recent case law regarding Conflicts of Interest for the latest interpretations.
- Even a robust and sophisticated Conflicts Checking system can only be as high quality as the information that's entered into it.
- The commitment to the Conflicts Checking System, Policies & Procedures must be firm-wide.
- Continuing education for Conflicts Avoidance should have an established and important place.
- Have a written policy & guidelines around Conflicts Avoidance with procedures and system use outlined, and stick to it.
- Firm members should not enter into business until firm management has approved.
How does your malpractice policy affect your CoI program or vice versa? Please share in the comments section below.
Cori Blackburn
cori.blackburn@rioncorp.com
224-277-3855
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