Resources

Our Resource Center includes our TLI Top Tips, articles, and links to other third party resources to assist our members with their loss prevention and best practices efforts.

News, Articles, & Top Tips

Article

Law firm liable for failure to verify information provided by client in a debt collection matter

Lawyers can be subject to liability under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. In a recent case, a law firm relied on information…
Article

Texas Ethics Opinion 651: Email Links on Law Firm Websites

The Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas has issued an opinion regarding the confidentiality of emails sent by prospective clients. Opinion…
Article

When (And How) Can You Destroy Client Files?

2013 Texas Ethics Opinion 627  indicates that lawyers can eventually dispose of client files, but provides no indication of what period of time constitutes a…
News

Chair’s Message to Members

By Suzan Fenner, Chair of the TLI Board of Directors. I am honored to be writing you this year as Chair of the Board…
Article

Law Firm Dissolution: Ethics and Malpractice

When law firms dissolve, a host of issues must be addressed by firm members. Many of the issues are of a business nature. Who…
News

TLI Declares 19th Consecutive Distribution

This is TLI’s 36th anniversary, and I am very pleased to report that 2015 was another successful year for Texas Lawyers’ Insurance Exchange. On…
Article

Mental Impairment, Discipline and Legal Malpractice

Mental impairment, whether due to substance abuse, mental illness, or advancing age, contributes to a significant number of legal malpractice claims and disciplinary actions.…
Article

Malpractice Claim filed in 1998 results in $935,000 award

A Connecticut law firm accused of failing to advise the spouse of a client about her potential survivor benefits suffered a $935,000 jury verdict recently. The…
Article

Using Law Firm Ethics Counsel to Avoid Claims

A recent Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL) conference in Chicago included a number of good loss prevention ideas from in-house law firm ethics…
Article

Difficulties in Defending Legal Malpractice Claims with Low Limits

If you are trying to decide what lawyers’ professional liability limit is appropriate, and article entitled Walking the Tightrope: Defending Low Limit Legal Malpractice Cases is worth…
Article

A Release From a Client Doesn’t Always Work

A recent Illinois case is instructive about the effectiveness of releases of malpractice claims from departing clients. In Construction Systems, Inc. v. FagelHaber, a law firm…
Article

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%…
Article

Ethical and Liability Considerations for Lawyers Acting as Fiduciaries in Estate, Trust and Probate Contexts

This article considers the implications of the existence of lawyers’ fiduciary obligations arising outside of the attorney client role. First, the article will consider…
Article

Question of the day: Should I accept an offer of equity in a client in lieu of fees?

An attorney considering whether or not to accept an offer of equity in a client should keep a number of issues in mind. Insurance. …
Article

Arbitration Clauses in Fee Agreements

Arbitration clauses in fee agreements have been used by many Texas lawyers.  This article will discuss the state of the law regarding the validity…
Article

Texas Supreme Court upholds arbitration clause in legal malpractice claim

Texas Supreme Court has upheld an arbitration clause in a fee contract, overturning a decision by the Corpus Christi court of appeals. We’ll post an…
Article

Can You Ever Reveal Client Secrets? Even If They Are Posted Online?

A recent proposed California ethics opinion discusses a number of scenarios in which client confidentiality may be involved.  Of course, matters subject to attorney-client…
Article

Innocent Partner Protection Doesn’t Apply to Insurance Application Misrepresentations

Failure to report potential claims in an insurance application can result in a useless legal malpractice insurance policy. In Focus on Full and Accurate…
Article

Avoiding Trouble as Replacement Counsel

When lawyers take over a case from another lawyer, there may be good reasons why the new lawyer is a better choice to take…
Article

What To Do If Something Goes Wrong

When a lawyer makes a mistake or is accused of making one, the initial reactions can affect the lawyer’s ability to defend or resolve…
Article

Time Management is Money: Beat the Clock & Save

One of the most frequent contributors to legal malpractice claims is rushed or forgotten work. A good scheduling system only goes so far toward…

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