Highlights from 2014 Large Firm Claim Survey

An article in the Insurance Journal discusses findings in a recently completed survey of legal malpractice claims in 2014 at nine legal malpractice insurers covering about 80% of the top 100 US based law firms. Among the findings:

Claim frequency appears to be about the same as 2013, but is below levels in 2011 and 2012.
Severity may be rising, as claims with a reserve greater than $500,000 grew in 2014. One claim payout exceeded $100 million.
The number of real estate claims has plummeted, and is now in fourth place as far as practice areas are concerned. Trust and estates now leads in number of claims, followed by corporate and securities law, and then business transactions.
Conflicts dominate the perceived causes of claims. Technology problems resulting in claims are on the rise.

At TLIE, 2014 saw a decline in frequency. Real estate and plaintiff personal injury related claims continued to be the top practice areas for claims.

By Jett Hanna