Statistics regarding the type, frequency and severity of legal malpractice claims submitted to insurers during 2016 were released at the end of June. From the law firm and attorney perspective, the news is generally good in that the number of malpractice claims has remained relatively steady. For insurers, however, the news is less rosy, because legal defense costs, claimed damages and settlement sums continue to climb.
In its seventh annual survey, Ames & Gough, a risk and insurance adviser to the country’s largest law firms, provides data relating to legal malpractice claims submitted last year. The survey includes information obtained by polling nine leading insurance companies that insure approximately 80 percent of the Am Law 100 firms.
