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NLJ this week: Claims without cover

12 January 2024
Issue: 8054 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Insurance / reinsurance
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Solicitor professional indemnity cover may be wide in scope, but firms still find themselves facing claims for which they are not covered

In this week’s NLJ, Frank Maher, partner in Legal Risk, writes that solicitors in England & Wales are often said to ‘have the widest cover of any profession in the world’ due to the breadth of their regulator’s Minimum Terms and Conditions.

However, he also points out: ‘All-embracing though solicitors’ insurance may appear to be, it is not without gaps.’ Maher, whose firm specialises in professional indemnity insurance law and professional regulation, presents examples of such gaps, gleaned from a wide range of cases where he has acted for firms.

Risks include insurers’ rights of reimbursement, and aggregation of claims arising from similar acts where a single policy limit applies.  

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Commercial leasehold, the defence of insanity and ‘consent’ in the criminal law are among the next tranche of projects for the Law Commission
Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn
The Bar has a culture of ‘impunity’ and ‘collusive bystanding’ in which making a complaint is deemed career-ending due to a ‘cohort of untouchables’ at the top, Baroness Harriet Harman KC has found
Lawyers have broadly welcomed plans to electronically tag up to 22,000 more offenders, scrap most prison terms below a year and make prisoners ‘earn’ early release
David Lammy, Ellie Reeves and Baroness Levitt have taken up office at the Ministry of Justice, following the cabinet reshuffle
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