The Malpractice Insurance Dilemma
An interview with Prof. Leslie Levin
In most states, lawyers are not required to carry professional liability insurance. In fact, some lawyers may be surprised to know only two states require lawyers to hold coverage. Bar associations and other legal groups across the country have been examining the debate over whether states should require malpractice insurance with renewed interest in recent years. Some argue that when uninsured lawyers make mistakes, clients who are harmed may not have access to remedies and that they may have difficulty securing a lawyer to represent the case or to take the case on a contingency fee basis. Too many uninsured lawyers may undermine the public’s trust and confidence in the legal profession. Others believe the requirement would be too burdensome, particularly for solo and small firms. Professor Leslie Levin discusses the debate surrounding mandatory insurance and whether lawyer malpractice insurance should be considered an issue of access to justice. She delves into the common claims typically covered by insurance, the various insurance disclosure requirements, and the types of client harms a mandatory insurance regime may prevent.
About Prof. Leslie Levin
Leslie C. Levin is the Hugh Macgill Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is an expert on the legal profession, ethical decision-making and lawyer discipline. From 2012-2014, she served as the Law School's associate dean for academic affairs. She has taught at New York University School of Law and the University of Haifa (as a Fulbright Specialist) and served as a visiting research fellow at the University of Queensland. She has clerked for Judge Robert W. Sweet in the Southern District of New York. She subsequently practiced for fourteen years at Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, where she represented media clients, engaged in commercial litigation and served on the firm’s Ethics Committee. She also served as secretary to the Committee on Professional and Judicial Ethics of the New York City Bar Association. She has served on the Connecticut Bar Association’s Task Force on the Future of the Legal Profession and on the Connecticut Joint Task Force on Attorney Trustee Accounts.
