05 Feb Lawyers Professional Liability (LPL) Insurance

For lawyers, one wrong move can lead to a malpractice claim that threatens your practice and your personal assets. That’s where Lawyers’ Professional Liability Insurance comes in. 

What is LPL Insurance?

Lawyers Professional Liability insurance, sometimes called legal malpractice or errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, protects attorneys and law firms when clients claim they’ve been harmed by negligence, mistakes, or oversights in legal services. Even if a claim is completely baseless, defending yourself in court isn’t cheap. LPL insurance covers your legal defense costs, settlements, and judgments—protecting everything you’ve worked to build.

What Does It Actually Cover?

LPL policies typically protect against a range of professional mishaps:

• Mistakes in legal advice that cause financial loss to a client
• Errors or omissions in documents, filings, or case management
• Work performed as a lawyer, arbitrator, mediator, or notary
• Defense costs including attorney fees and court expenses
• Settlement amounts or damages awarded to clients
• Emerging risks like data breaches or cyber extortion (depending on your policy)

That said, there are limits. Most policies won’t cover criminal acts, fraud, or bodily injury and property damage—those fall under general liability coverage.

Understanding “Claims-Made” Policies

Here’s something crucial: most LPL policies operate on a “claims-made” basis. That means your policy needs to be active both when the alleged mistake happened AND when the claim is filed against you. Let your coverage lapse, and you could be exposed to claims from work you did years ago. 

What to Consider When Shopping for Coverage

Insurance isn’t one-size-fits-all. Your premiums will depend on several factors:

• The size of your firm (solo practitioner vs. large partnership)
• Your practice areas—some specialties carry higher risk than others
• Your claims history
• State requirements—which vary significantly. In Ohio, for example, attorneys in private practice must either carry professional liability insurance with minimum limits of $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate, or formally disclose to clients that they don’t have coverage. Attorneys practicing through certain business entities also face additional financial responsibility requirements.

Annual premiums can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a small practice in a low-risk area to several thousand for firms handling high-stakes litigation or real estate transactions.

Where to Get Coverage

Major carriers offering LPL insurance include Travelers, Liberty Mutual, ALPS, Crum & Forster, and Aon Attorneys Advantage. It’s worth shopping around and comparing not just price, but coverage limits and exclusions.

If you’re in private practice, maintaining continuous LPL coverage isn’t optional—it’s essential. Your reputation and financial security depend on it. One claim, even a frivolous one, can derail your career without proper protection in place.

Take our free Intelligent Quotient for Risk Management assessment – a quick non-invasive tool that takes less than 5 minutes to complete. You’ll receive a free evaluation score that uncovers your medical malpractice risk audit as a medical professional.

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