As Severity of Legal Malpractice Claims Rise, LawyeringLaw.com Provides Risk Management Tools and Services for Lawyers and Law Firms

Whether practicing in a solo setting or at a law firm, lawyers today face a daunting array of risks in daily practice, and often need practical answers in real time about how to handle these risks. In response to this challenge, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP has partnered with major malpractice insurers to expand its risk management advice and services. The firm today announces it has launched the next generation of LawyeringLaw.com, a risk management platform for attorneys who are insured by participating malpractice insurers.

"The severity of malpractice claims against attorneys continues to soar, and the cost of legal malpractice defense is up across the board," said Noah Fiedler, a partner in Hinshaw’s Lawyers for the Profession® practice group and one of the developers of LawyeringLaw.com. "We have partnered with insurers to help attorneys manage their risk before issues develop into expensive and potentially career-threatening conflicts."

Solo practitioners and small law firms that lack a general counsel or internal risk management resources can be particularly vulnerable to ethics and malpractice issues. LawyeringLaw.com was designed to fill this gap, according to Fiedler.

Through the Lawyeringlaw program, lawyers insured by participating insurers receive confidential consultations with Hinshaw risk management attorneys when legal ethics or malpractice issues arise. The site also provides easy access to published loss-prevention authorities, and an array of tools to help lawyers gauge and manage risk. The most frequent issues for which attorneys seek assistance are:

• resolving a complex conflicts question
• ethically and effectively communicating a potential error to a client
• terminating a client relationship
• responding to a demand for a client file
• dealing with a client dispute over fees or other issues in the representation
• responsibly representing a client with diminished capacity
• reacting to a cyber breach

LawyeringLaw.com provides a range of resources through a proprietary risk management e-library including ethics opinions, state specific materials, sample law firm policies and checklists, and targeted information in areas such as cyber risk. Lawyers can also subscribe to a risk management newsletter, a "tip of the month" and the Hinshaw Cyber Alert series. Attorneys also can obtain CLE credit through on-demand audio CLE programs.

"Legal ethics and malpractice issues arise in every area of practice—but some areas are riskier than others. The bulk of lawyer’s professional liability claims occur in business transactions, corporate and securities, real estate and trusts and estates matters," Fiedler said. "Unidentified and unresolved conflicts of interest create both an increased likelihood of litigation and magnified damages."

New and emerging legal risk management threats include cyber security, electronic fraud, and hacking.

LawyeringLaw.com is designed to be a singular resource that comprehensively addresses the numerous risks involved with practicing law in today’s complex and competitive market. Lawyer insureds seeking risk management support should contact their broker or insurance carrier to confirm this service is available as part of their existing professional liability policy.