It Isn’t Your Fault: Lawyers and Law Firms Have Been Brainwashed About Choosing and Buying Insurance Protection
by Michael P. Carroll, Insuring Lawyer
Stop and think. When you purchased your present Lawyers Professional Liability, Office Business Insurance, and Workers Comp was it from a buddy or a relative or a neighbor down the street? Or did you search the Internet or the Yellow Pages? Did you see a television commercial? Or did your Bar Association recommended it? Perhaps it was one of your regular customers and you felt you wanted to return the favor. This last is certainly understandable in a business situation.
If any of the above fit your situation, don’t think I intend to demean your decision-making procedures. However, for a moment let’s compare this to a medical situation.
Similar to the Field of Medicine
Think for a minute if you would please, would you have an ears, nose and throat doctor operate on your knee? Or have a general practitioner perform open heart surgery? You don’t just walk into any hospital and accept the first doctor you meet. If a loved one suffered from a disease that even the so-called specialists in your area were not qualified to treat, would you not then see about getting them to the Mayo Clinic, or a similar center of advanced medicine and treatments? If a case concerns someone you love, the decisions you make will be weighed heavily and you for sure will do your research and check out the doctor’s background or history.
Inadvertently Putting Your Law Firm at Risk
Most Lawyers that I have come to know look at their practice as a dearly-loved member of the family. For some, their practice has actually been a part of the family for three or sometimes four generations. It has provided and still provides for the family for decades. Perhaps you or a member of your family conceived this practice and brought it into being. In any case, it is now your life and your passion and you would never purposely put it in harm’s way. Even at the most basic level, you have a security system in place and lock all the doors at night.
Yet many Lawyers inadvertently put their practice in danger through simple negligence: they fail to select an insurance broker who is a seasoned specialist in proper insurance for Lawyers and Law Firms.
Obviously, there are insurance brokers in the property and casualty insurance field who have achieved a high degree of success. But the truth is that an insurance broker who is a generalist misses it almost every time when it comes to many of the dangers that Lawyers and Law Firms face daily. Of course, they know to cover your business for a fire, a slip and fall, or a tornado. Everyone knows that. But not every insurance broker understands about the hidden law-firm-specific dangers that can put a practice out of business in a matter of days.
It is critical to the viability and ultimately the perpetuation of your Law Business that you need a specialist who knows your area of expertise as well as they know anything, an insurance broker who specializes and for whom the legal profession is the number-one business.
Perhaps you’ve never even thought of your insurance in this way. If that’s true, I fully understand. But that’s the reason I “wrote the book” on this. I literally did write a book only for Lawyers! I want you informed and educated so you will never need to be at risk again. I’m here to bring you peace of mind and a better night’s sleep. Please grab a FREE copy which will be sent in today’s mail by visiting www.insuringlawyerbook.com or by calling 24/7 to 866-843-0101 to hear a recording to leave your name and mailing address. You’ll really enjoy the read as it is written in a story like style. Plus you’ll absolutely have some “ah ha” moments that will definitely educate and ultimately benefit you.
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