In
2011, ALPS formalized its commitment to education and risk
management with the advent of ALPS Educational Services (AES). With
over two decades of working in all phases of the professional
liability insurance industry — from underwriting to sales, to
marketing and education — there are real benefits ALPS brings to
our policyholders and the legal profession. Not only does ALPS
provide premier protection to its policyholders, but we have always
been committed to Continuing Legal Education and risk management
programs.
In order to provide our insureds and the larger legal community with practical solutions to help avoid risk and strengthen practices and professional lives, we offer the following free resources, with more to be added in the...
Read More »
We
have all made referrals. For some, making a referral is almost a
daily occurrence. Lawyers often make referrals after work is
declined. Staff may make them in response to cold calls or to
clients who need a service that the firm doesn’t provide. Referrals
are sometimes made during dinner conversations, at social events,
or after a presentation made to the general public. We may pass
along a name to a family member, a friend, a colleague, and
especially good clients. After all, we do want to make sure our
good clients are well taken care of. Too often, however, referrals
seem to be made without any thought of the potential malpractice
exposure. Is such casualness justifiable? Unfortunately, the answer
may be no.
Believe it or not, file
handoffs can lead to trouble if not properly managed. It
doesn’t matter if the handoff is from a partner to an associate,
from one firm to another post referral or purchase of a practice,
or is to a new firm or attorney after the current attorney’s
practice has ended due to death, disability, retirement, or
disciplinary action. There are concerns that should be
addressed with all of three situations. Why? Because an
attorney’s liability for a client file isn’t limited to the
decisions made or actions taken solely during the time he or she is
personally responsible for doing the work on that file.
By
Robert W. Minto, ALPS CEO, 
When
discussing past malpractice claims or disciplinary matters with
attorneys, I often hear statements along the lines of “I knew I
shouldn’t have agreed to take that client on” or “That was one of
those no good deed goes unpunished situations.” Effective risk
management begins with client screening, and those statements
strongly suggested that there was room for improvement in that
area. If the above statements ring true for you now and again,
regardless of whether a claim or complaint ever arose, consider
taking some time to reflect upon your own client screening
practices.
Recently
one of ALPS' Claims Attorneys, Mike Flaherty, presented to the
Knoxville Chapter of the ALA on the issue of suing your clients for
fees. I developed content for that presentation and heard from Mike
that the session was well attended by ALA members. In fact, Mike
was slated for a 30 minute presentation, but because there were so
many questions, he stayed for a full hour. Obviously this is a
burning topic for legal administrators and attorneys right now. I’d
like to share my tips on this issue to help you avoid the risks
that are incurred if you are faced with suing your clients for
fees. In addition to the tips below for collecting your fees, take
a look at 
"Of
counsel" is one of those terms that has multiple
meanings. This term has traditionally been used as an honorary
designation for retired partners, as a special designation for firm
attorneys who are neither a partner nor an associate, and as a way
to describe part-time attorneys who have created an association
with a firm. In recent years, however, more attorneys seem to
want to use the term solely as a way to generate additional
business. After all, the increased exposure coupled with the
presentation of close ties with another firm can be an effective
marketing tool, right? Well perhaps, but there are risks that
come into play and these risks should not be taken lightly.
As
part of my risk consulting, I sometimes explore a firm's claims
history in a group setting of attorneys. Every once and a
while, one or more of the attorneys will resist this effort and
question the appropriateness of the topic. With similar
frequency I find myself in an open and honest discussion about what
happened. The claims discussion is an interesting part of the
visit process as I can learn a great deal about the inner workings
of a firm based upon how the group responds. Ultimately, I am
looking for an ability of the involved attorney(s) and the firm to
hold themselves accountable for their actions or inactions. I
am also looking to see if they have embraced the learning that can
be taken from the experience and, perhaps most...
Who
can forget the scene in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" when
Richard Dreyfuss's character built a rather large re-creation of
Devils Tower in his living room out of just about anything he could
find - bricks, dirt, shrubbery, you name it. If you missed
that film, trust me, it was a heck of a mess. Believe it or
not, I have stood in a file room in an actual law firm where, in my
mind, this mountain was re-created yet again. Files towered
over my head and access to the top could only be accomplished by
ladder. That file room is one I will never forget. To my
relief I did learn that I was one of a select few ever allowed
access, and fortunately, no clients ever knew what was hidden
behind a very mundane door that they walked passed...
Powered by Compendium