Resources

Our Resource Center includes our TLIE 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

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…
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…
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…
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…
News

Our Updated Website

TLIE has updated our website to serve you better. We made the site optimized for mobile, and reorganized to help you get what you need…
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…
Article

Scheduling Errors and Legal Malpractice

Scheduling errors are the root cause of many legal malpractice claims. It is common to think of scheduling errors as just missed deadlines, but…
Article

The Relationship Between Legal Fees and Legal Malpractice

Fees have a complex relationship with legal malpractice. While definitive statistics regarding the impact of legal fees on legal malpractice are not available, TLIE…
Article

Preventing Fee Problems: A Preventative Approach

Fee disputes with clients lead to a number of problems.  Legal malpractice claims are often filed when clients are dissatisfied with fees.  If a…
Article

Marking Up: When Can You Do It, And How?

Texas Ethics Opinion No. 577, issued in March 2007 and published in the October 2007 Texas Bar Journal, addresses when and how a law…
Article

The Importance of Fee Issues

Percentage of Americans who agree that lawyers are more interested in making money than in serving their clients: 69% Public Perception of Lawyers: Consumer…
Article

Recent Texas Ethics Opinions On Contingent Fees, Non-Refundable Retainers

By Jett Hanna Two recent Texas Ethics Opinions from the Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas may change how lawyers structure…
Article

When Twice Is Not Nice: Defending Your Own Work

Repeat clients are usually appreciated, but in some situations you may want to reconsider. If the work you are called upon to perform for…
Article

What is a Conflict?

The following is a brief, limited review of the law of conflicts of interest in Texas. Should you have a question about a particular…

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