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
Communications breakdowns: When a lawyer doesn’t care
Why, if lawyers are supposed to be good communicators, are the majority of LAWPRO claims related to communication issues? In 2014, for example, the broad category of communications accounted for about almost a third of claims reported and claims costs. We asked some lawyers to give their opinions on how lawyer-client communications can break down…. Read More »
Categories: Communication ErrorsRisk management strategies to reduce your risk of a claim under the new Rule 48.14
Effective January 1, 2015, a new Rule 48.14 brought significant changes to the administrative dismissal regime in Ontario. After several hundred claims and more than $7 million in claims costs over the last three years, LAWPRO was happy to see old Rules 48.14 and 48.15 revoked. However, while LAWPRO believes the new rule will stem… Read More »
Categories: Civil LitigationLAWPRO defends lawyers: Opposing inappropriate expansion of lawyer’s scope of responsibility
Advising clients of their rights on a legal matter is a significant responsibility and lawyers have a duty to discharge it with competence and care. But when defending a negligence claim where clients seek to hold lawyers accountable for the unfavourable results of their own business or strategic decisions, LAwPRO’s defence counsel don’t hesitate to… Read More »
Categories: LAWPRO Errors and Omissions Coverage, Civil LitigationFive ways to boost your chances of a successful repair
What’s a repair? In some cases, LAwPRO counsel can help an insured lawyer head off a lawsuit by “repairing” an error (e.g., by assisting with a motion to reinstate a dismissed action to the trial list) or take steps that substantially reduce the losses that an error might lead to. While not all errors are… Read More »
Categories: LAWPRO Errors and Omissions Coverage, Law Practice Management“Resilience: Facing Life’s Challenges With Courage and Conviction” by Homewood Human Solutions
A lawyer that is low on resilience is thin-skinned, defensive, and easily wounded by criticism. Even small things, such as a client or a lawyer not returning his call, will offend him. The quote above is from LAWPRO’s recent post on resilience as a part of the lawyer personality. That post explains that resilience is… Read More »
Categories: Wellness and BalanceRisky VTB mortgage transactions in Barrie and Collingwood [LAWPRO Alert #2]
This is the text of an alert sent by LAWPRO to all Ontario lawyers on April 29, 2015. LAWPRO is warning Ontario real estate lawyers to be on the alert for risky vendor takeback mortgage transactions, some of which may be closing this week. There is a significant potential claims risk for lawyers involved in… Read More »
Categories: Real EstateInside the Lawyer’s Mind Part 5: Resilience
The last trait we look at in this series is resilience. A lawyer high in resilience is receptive to criticism and feedback and is not defensive. He is less likely to take criticism personally and is better at focusing on accomplishing the task at hand. If he suffers a loss or is rejected, he will… Read More »
Categories: Risk Management Strategies, Career Management, Law Practice ManagementInside the Lawyer’s Mind Part 4: Sociability
In parts 1 to 3 of this series we discussed the three traits that lawyers score particularly high on in personality assessments: skepticism, autonomy, and urgency. In this post and the next we look at two traits that lawyers score low on: sociability and resilience. In some ways, these are the most surprising findings. The… Read More »
Categories: Risk Management Strategies, Career Management, Law Practice Management