Beazley Unveils Liability Coverage for Law Firms

Beazley, an insurer for lawyers' professional liability, is now offering insurance coverage and risk management resources tailored to the needs of regional law firms.

Beazley has been underwriting lawyers' professional liability insurance in the United States for more than 20 years, focusing on both large and mid sized firms. Current clients include four of the top five law firms as ranked last month by The American Lawyer; 14 of the top 20 firms; and 45 of the top 100. Beazley also insures hundreds of smaller law firms.


Building on this experience, Beazley has tailored its regional law firm offering to provide comprehensive coverage at a competitive price for single city general practice firms with excellent claims experience. These firms, which may well have a number of satellite offices, will typically operate within a distinct geographical area and have between 35 and 200 attorneys.

"We have built our business on the understanding that each law firm is unique," said Beazley underwriter Tim Rowan. "With our long experience in this class of business, we know what drives risk and can offer broad coverage, competitive pricing and responsive service to meet the demands of our clients."

Key features of the Beazley service include:

* Fair and differentiated pricing. The Beazley rate structure rewards
excellent claims records and strong risk management.

* Duty to defend coverage. The policy is a duty to defend form that,
subject to its terms, covers damages, settlements, judgments, defense
costs and expenses related to professional negligence, breach of
fiduciary duty, and errors and omissions claims.

* Flexibility to offer coverage on an admitted or non-admitted basis.
Beazley has historically insured US law firms on a non-admitted basis,
and will continue to do so where appropriate. But coverage is now also
widely available on an admitted basis through Beazley's A.M. Best A
rated US carrier, Beazley Insurance Company, Inc.

* Focus on claims service. Expectations are naturally high because law
firm clients understand liability issues better than most other
professions. Beazley has invested heavily in claims expertise to
satisfy clients' expectations.

* Tailored risk management programs. Beazley clients obtain risk
management insights developed over decades of underwriting these risks,
helping them stay alert to the latest claims and liability trends.
Coverage limits of up to $20 million are available.