About LAWPRO
Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company (LAWPRO) is owned by the Law Society of Upper Canada and is licensed to provide professional liability insurance and title insurance in numerous jurisdictions across Canada. Through its malpractice insurance program, LAWPRO insures over 25,000 practising lawyers in Ontario, as well as providing them with risk and practice management information under the practicePRO banner.
LAWPRO's Posts
Access to Justice: Limited Scope Representation
Increasingly, legal services are moving away from the full-service model. Outsourcing document review, e-discovery, and other discrete legal services are becoming more common-place. Small practitioners and larger firms alike can offer limited scope representation, or “unbundled” representation, which let clients pick and choose when they want to engage with a lawyer during the life of… Read More »
Categories: Communication ErrorsThe Stresses & Challenges of Being a Lawyer: When Technology Doesn’t Help
In addition to all the pressures lawyers face described in the article The Day to Day Stresses & Challenges of Being a Lawyer, technology has increased the pace of practice. While increasing efficiency, the constant flow of new products and applications can create just as much anxiety. The key is to use technology – don’t… Read More »
Categories: Legal Technology, Wellness and BalanceDon’t let personal issues lead you to bend the rules
At least two of the Law Society of Upper Canada’s discipline decisions in the last few months referenced a lawyer’s “loss of moral compass.” Even honest and well-intentioned lawyers have, when under pressure or when suffering from illness, addiction or a personal crisis, succumbed to the belief that it’s perfectly fine to bend the rules… Read More »
Categories: UncategorizedMalpractice danger areas in personal injury law
Having practised personal injury law before I joined LAWPRO, I faced constant challenges that threatened to derail my practice if improperly dealt with. Follow me as we take this journey into the life of a hypothetical file and uncover the most common sources of malpractice claims. The Case of Mr. Smith Mr. Smith suffers serious… Read More »
Categories: Biggest Claims Risks, Civil Litigation, Limitations ClaimsAdverse cost protection: what are the risks and benefits?
Adverse cost protection is a relatively new insurance or quasi-insurance product which can help lessen the financial blow of a lost case for both the client and lawyer. It may also be called adverse cost insurance, legal expense insurance, or after the event (ATE) insurance. While there is no standard contract or policy, the adverse… Read More »
Categories: Civil LitigationDropping the ball on a file transfer: Rule 48 dangers
When a file is transferred from one lawyer to another, one danger is when nothing happens on the file due to a clumsy transfer or missing critical information. A new file that has not been looked at can be a ticking time bomb. Deadlines like limitation periods can pass by unnoticed, and Rule 48 administrative… Read More »
Categories: Risk Management & Claims Prevention, Biggest Claims Risks, Communication Errors, Risk Management Strategies, Civil Litigation, Law Practice ManagementThe LAWPRO $250,000 cybercrime coverage: What it covers and why
As of the 2014 policy year, the LAWPRO mandatory insurance program will include express coverage in the amount of $250,000 for losses related to cybercrime, as defined in the policy. This sublimit (or cap) of coverage provides a modest “safety net” for lawyers in the area of cybercrime exposure. We say modest because like the… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention, LAWPRO Errors and Omissions CoverageLet it R.A.I.N. – a journey into mindfulness
French philosopher Michel Eyquem de Montaigne said it well – “My life has been filled with terrible misfortune, most of which never happened.” When things are not going the way we want, we sometimes create the illusion that they are worse than they actually are. In her book “Self-Compassion,” Dr. Kristin Neff, Ph.D. suggests being… Read More »
Categories: Wellness and Balance