Legal Malpractice & Personal Injury Attorney
(404) 418-0000 Email Me
(404) 418-0000 | info@linleyjones.com
logo
logo
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Linley Jones
    • Angela M. Forstie
    • Taylor Gore
    • Vinisha Robinson
  • Practice Areas
  • Case Results
  • Firm News & Blog
    • Firm News
    • Firm Blog
  • Resources
    • FAQ’s
    • Helpful Links
  • Contact
    • Contact the Firm
    • Directions
Featured News
Bad news for Georgians who hire lawyers
Share

The Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia (BOG) voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to allow Georgia lawyers to practice without malpractice insurance. Although most lawyers are insured (approximately 70-75% of them according an estimate of the Professional Liability Insurance Committee), that still leaves as many as 10,000 uninsured lawyers practicing in Georgia. The BOG even rejected the recommendation of the Professional Liability Insurance Committee to require that lawyers disclose their insurance status to the State Bar and on its website so that legal consumers could easily find out if they are hiring an insured lawyer. In a final blow to the Committee’s efforts, the BOG voted to disband the committee, thereby ensuring that the issue of professional liability insurance will not arise again, at least for the foreseeable future.

In the aftermath of this vote, I have been repeatedly asked why lawyers would vote against an insurance requirement. After all, even the Committee concluded that non-lawyers almost always assume that lawyers are insured. The truth is, the reasons for the opposition varied, from infringing on the “freedom” of lawyers to be uninsured to concerns that the cost of insurance for younger lawyers starting out (approximately $100 or less per month) would impede their ability to practice. In the end, however, the reasons for opposition all had one thing in common–they placed the interests of the lawyers above those of the clients.

There was one point, however, on which everyone seemed to agree: malpractice insurance is a good idea for every lawyer in private practice. Perhaps this message got through to a handful of uninsured lawyers. Perhaps a few more will choose to take the ethical step of protecting their clients from the impact of their mistakes by carrying malpractice insurance.


Share
Linley Jones

Leave a reply

Click here to cancel reply.

Recent Posts

  • The Top 30 Things that have Changed in my 30 Years Practicing Law
  • Avoiding Legal Malpractice Tip of the Week: How Tolling for a Pending Criminal Prosecution Can Affect a Tort Claim
  • Avoiding Legal Malpractice Tip of the Week: The End of COVID Tolling for Many Personal Injury Cases
  • Recognition of associate attorney Taylor Gore of the Linley Jones Firm, PC
  • Councilmember Linley Jones elected Mayor Pro Tem

Contact Me

The Linley Jones Firm, P.C.

3334 Peachtree Road, NE
Suite CU-2
Atlanta, Georgia 30326

(404) 418-0000

Contact The Linley Jones Firm, P.C.

The Linley Jones Firm, P.C.

3334 Peachtree Road, NE
Suite CU-2
Atlanta, Georgia 30326

(404) 418-0000

ATTORNEYS & STAFF

  • Linley Jones
  • Angela M. Forstie
  • Taylor Gore
  • Vinisha Robinson

NAVIGATE

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Practice Areas
  • Case Results
  • Contact
  • Directions

RESOURCES

  • Linley’s Blog
  • Helpful Links
  • FAQ’s
  • Directions
© The Linley Jones Firm, P.C. — Site Designed by 3a Law Management
logo