Climate Change: States Warm to the Disclosure of Liability Coverage

Rules requiring attorneys to disclose whether they carry liability insurance are rapidly becoming, well, the rule.

As of Aug. 27, 25 states (PDF) had some form of liability disclosure requirement, reports the ABA Standing Committee on Client Protection.

While that number represents only half the states, it also signifies the rumblings of a trend that can be traced to 2004, when just nine states required such disclosure.

But that year the ABA House of Delegates approved a model court rule (PDF) that, if adopted by a state, would require lawyers in private practice to report on their annual registration statements whether they carry insurance. The ABA rule exempts government lawyers and lawyers who exclusively represent organizational clients, as well as those not engaged in the active practice of law. The rule also provides for administrative suspensions for lawyers who fail to comply, but such a failure would not be reported as a disciplinary offense.

Continue reading "Climate Change" in the November ABA Journal.