Risk Management & Claims Prevention
The new Fraud Fact Sheet for Real Estate
Fraudsters are continuing to successfully dupe lawyers and law clerks using ID impersonations, property flips, value fraud, phishing scams, and more. Real estate frauds can be simple scenarios or sophisticated ones. The matters look legitimate and the fraudsters are convincing. There may even be two or more people collaborating on both sides of a transaction… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention, Real EstateNew and exciting opportunities – and claims risks: Marijuana law
As recreational marijuana makes its way onto Ontario store shelves, lawyers are gearing up for the new market. From producers to retailers, and everything in between – retail stores, physicians, banks, transportation companies, accountants, you name it – clients will come from all segments of industry. Here we take a look at some of the… Read More »
Categories: Communication Errors, Law Practice Management, Risk Management & Claims Prevention, Risk Management Strategies, UncategorizedLAWPRO Alert: Statement on Re Milne Estate decision
LAWPRO is aware of the Re Milne Estate decision and we confirm that it has been appealed. We expect the appeal won’t be heard for several months. We hope the appeal decision brings clarity to how primary and secondary wills should be drafted. Lawyers that have drafted wills that may be impacted by this decision… Read More »
Categories: Announcements, LAWPRO Errors and Omissions Coverage, Risk Management & Claims Prevention, Risk Management Strategies, Wills & EstatesFraudsters impersonating firms to divert real estate deposit funds
In the article “Danger: When a hacker emails you instructions in the name of your client” we warned lawyers to be aware of the danger of fake emails from the client attempting to redirect funds in a real estate purchase. In a new twist on this scam, a firm informed us that their client was… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionPitfalls of Judging Your Own Competency
It is not easy to know yourself. According to the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias, less competent people think they are more competent than they actually are, and competent people think they are worse than they actually are. Consider the following three scenarios, in which you perform a task at different stages of your career… Read More »
Categories: Coaching, Law Practice Management, Mentoring, Risk Management & Claims PreventionBe aware of an invoice phishing attempt
A number of Ontario lawyers have reported receiving a phishing attempt that tried to entice the recipient to click on a link which likely will attempt to install malware or direct the user to a suspicious site. When hovering over the link, the site displayed is phenixsportsmensclub.com/intuit. The emails all have a number of similar… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention, Risk Management & Claims PreventionArrests made in the U.S. of fraudsters involved in email impersonation scams
Here’s a rare bit of good news when it comes to fraud and cybercrime. Housingwire.com reports that several fraudsters have been arrested in the U.S.. The scams they are accused of running include hacking firm email accounts to redirect funds from real estate transactions to their own bank accounts. See Danger: When a Hacker Emails… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionMalpractice claims regarding wills double in a decade
While wills and estates may never rival litigation or real estate as a risky practice area for lawyers, LAWPRO has seen the average annual number of wills claims double over the past 10 years. Growth in property values renders these errors more expensive and growing complexity in family structures, family law and tax law makes… Read More »
Categories: Areas of Law, Biggest Claims Risks, Communication Errors, Risk Management & Claims Prevention, Wills & Estates