Do All Lawyers Have Malpractice Insurance?

The short answer is no. The last time we researched the issue we found that only the State of Oregon was requiring lawyers to carry legal malpractice insurance, and it has done so since 1977.  Only South Dakota requires lawyers to specifically disclose to clients when they do not carry malpractice insurance.  Virginia has a website where the public may look up lawyers by name to see if they have insurance 
( http://www.vsb.org/attorney/attSearch.asp).

There is no requirement in Florida that attorneys carry legal malpractice insurance, and the Florida Bar does not keep track of how many lawyers have it.  An executive at Florida Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company estimated that about 65 percent of lawyers who practice in Florida have malpractice insurance; the rest "go bare".  Many local bar attorney referral service programs require lawyers to have malpractice insurance in order to have their name on the referral service list.  Certain types of commercial clients also require proof of malpractice insurance, such as mortgage companies that approve lawyers to handle real their  estate closings.   Anecdotally, it seems that most medium to large law firms have malpractice insurance and a greater percentage of uninsured lawyers come from the ranks of small firms and sole practitioners.  The only way to know for sure if a lawyer in Florida is insured is to either ask him for the information or sue him for malpractice and find out.  

Legal Malpractice Attorney, Orlando, Florida
Attorneys At Law

email: info@legalmalpracticenetwork-florida.com

SERVING ALL OF FLORIDA

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Orlando, Florida     32801
Phone:   (407) 843-0126     Fax:  (407) 849-1267

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Tampa, Florida     33607
Phone: (813) 639-7644     Fax: (813) 639-7645


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Jacksonville, Florida 32256
Phone:   904-371-3518     Fax:    904-371-3519
 


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110 E. Broward Blvd.,     Suite 1700
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301
Phone: 954- 315- 3839     Fax: 954-315- 3840
 

 

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 This site contains only general background information and is not intended to constitute specific legal advice or establish an attorney/client relationship.  Malpractice laws vary from state to state and are constantly changing.   If you think you may have a malpractice case you should promptly contact a lawyer in your state with experience in handling malpractice cases.

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