Lawcover’s Lawyers Management Liability Insurance

Management liability cover is sometimes overlooked. It shouldn’t be. The demands of running a legal practice, and its associated risks, can sometimes seem endless, particularly for those who wish to practice actively while shouldering leadership and management responsibilities. However, there are options that can help manage risk and limit liability exposure.

Consider Lawcover’s Lawyers Management Liability insurance and whether your law practice needs this type of cover. The following examples may help you to determine whether this cover might be relevant to your practice.

Public Liability

A new client attends your legal practice to give instructions for the preparation of a Power of Attorney. On entering the reception area, the client catches his foot on the corner of a heavy rug and falls, sustaining significant injuries to his head and right shoulder. He also breaks the laptop he was carrying. The client subsequently commences proceedings against your practice alleging that the rug was not evenly placed on the floor of the reception area and constituted a hidden danger. He claims damages for personal injury and damage to the laptop.

Internal Crime

You have employed a new office manager at your law practice. Over an extended period, the office manager creates fraudulent third-party disbursement invoices addressed to the law practice for work allegedly undertaken on its instructions. The office manager then electronically transfers funds from the practice bank account to the third- party bank account by way of “payment” of the fraudulent invoices.

Employment issues

Over the course of several months you have become increasingly concerned as to the quality of work being performed by of one of your paralegals, who is inattentive and often fails to attend work in a timely and consistent manner.

Your practice terminates the paralegal’s employment. The paralegal makes a claim for unfair dismissal in the Fair Work Commission alleging that the practice has breached the provisions of the  Workplace Relations legislation in that inadequate warnings were given to her about her performance and conduct prior to her dismissal.

Statutory Liability

You are part of a national firm engaged in representing large clients  in relation to a demanding Royal Commission. When the Commission hearings are running the workload is extremely high and the practice requires several of its employed solicitors to work long hours, without breaks, and without weekends or other days off.

After a period of time several employees allege that, because of its work practices, the law practice is in breach of the Occupational Health and Safety legislation and National Workplace Relations legislation in several States and Territories.

The law practice is investigated by the Fair Work Commissioner and contacts Lawcover, seeking help to defend the investigation.

These scenarios are just a few examples of what can go wrong in the everyday running of a legal practice.

The reality is, there are endless ways in which your law practice  could be exposed to risk and it makes good business sense to have proper coverage for all aspects of your law practice.

Lawcover offers an optional Lawyers Management Liability insurance which, when aligned with your Professional Indemnity Insurance policy, provides your legal practice with broad protection.

For further information, click here to download our brochure.