Lawyers in Indiana face more professional risk than people in virtually any other profession in the state except healthcare. A simple misinterpretation of the law, piece of bad advice, or unfavorable legal decision could result in a client lawsuit.
Even if your legal practice is diligent, detail-oriented, and tries to get everything right, it could still be the victim of a frivolous lawsuit that could end up costing it a significant amount of money. That’s where professional liability insurance for Indiana lawyers and law firms comes in.
It’s a type of coverage that protects lawyers and entire firms against claims that legal services provided caused a client to suffer financial harm because a lawyer made a mistake or someone failed to perform adequate legal service. A policy covers both legal expenses related to a client lawsuit and the financial judgments that come out of them.
In this article, I recommend the 5 best lawyers malpractice insurance companies in Indiana and provide all the information needed to get the right coverage for you or your firm.
- 5 best lawyers malpractice insurance companies in Indiana
- What is professional liability insurance for lawyers?
- Is professional liability insurance for lawyers required in Indiana?
- Who needs lawyer insurance in Indiana?
- What does professional liability insurance for lawyers cover in Indiana?
- Why should Indiana attorneys and law firms carry attorney malpractice insurance?
- If a law firm has professional liability insurance, does it also need management liability insurance?
- How much does professional liability insurance for lawyers cost in Indiana?
- How to find cheap professional liability insurance for lawyers in Indiana
5 best lawyers malpractice insurance companies in Indiana
We researched many insurers that offer professional liability coverage for lawyers in Indiana. Here are our recommendations of the 5 best providers for different reasons.
- CoverWallet: Best for Indiana lawyers who need professional liability coverage fast
- Embroker: Best overall online experience
- biBerk: Best for low-cost Indiana law firm coverage
- Attorneys Advantage: Best for smaller legal practices in Indiana
- L Squared Insurance: Best for coverage from an agency that specializes in law firms
CoverWallet: Best for Indiana lawyers who want to compare several quotes and get malpractice coverage fast
Need proof of insurance before you can practice law in Indiana? CoverWallet can get you a certificate of insurance (COI) delivered right to your inbox at any time. On top of that, you’ll be able to compare quotes from several providers within minutes, all on one screen.
How is CoverWallet able to do this?
CoverWallet is a cutting-edge insurance provider. The firm has developed its own state-of-the-art platform, based on its own algorithms, to ensure it can connect lawyers, law firms, and other small businesses with all the business insurance they need, including professional liability coverage, at a fair price.
The firm’s experts have used their extensive experience to make sure you only input the information needed to generate quick and accurate quotes. The entire process should take less than ten minutes.
You can feel confident knowing that CoverWallet is a part of Aon, an established company that provides advice to businesses on things like risk, health, and retirement.
CoverWallet offers two levels of protection for attorneys and law firms, a basic level of coverage focused on professional liability and a broader plan that covers additional risks.
Once you get your quote, CoverWallet makes it easy to purchase a professional liability policy or complete business insurance package online or through an agent. When you get your legal malpractice policy through CoverWallet, it’s simple to manage your coverage online, including downloading a certificate of insurance, filing a claim, renewing your policy, and more.
If you want to compare several quotes easily, you should consider starting with CoverWallet. They can provide online quote comparison in most cases. In some complicated cases, they might need to discuss your quote options on the phone with you, but they are always able to let you compare several quotes.
Below is a lawyers professional liability insurance quote for a small law firm with 5 full-time attorneys focusing on corporate laws.
Embroker: Best for overall online experience
Embroker is the first fully digital professional liability policy insurer for lawyers. The entire quoting and insurance purchase process typically takes less than ten minutes, even for an entire legal practice.
Because Embroker is a digital-based company, it can pass on what it saves on infrastructure and unnecessary administration to clients. In most cases, Embroker is able to provide the lowest cost insurance in the marketplace. You can also control your costs by choosing your policy limits and deductible.
If you’re concerned about working with a virtual agency, you can rest assured knowing you can reach a business insurance expert over the phone, email, or chat 24 / 7. In addition, Embroker assigns an account manager to every policyholder who gets to know the ins and outs of their legal practice and the unique risks it faces.
Below is a quote sample that we obtained from Embroker for a small law firm with 2 attorneys specializing in commercial and corporate laws. It took us less than 15 minutes to complete the online application and get this quote. If we are happy with this quote, we can buy online and pay by credit card or debit card and are covered immediately.
biBerk: Best for low-cost Indiana law firm coverage
biBerk is a low-cost business insurance provider. Despite saving money on your legal malpractice coverage, you can rest assured knowing you’re still getting quality protection for the practice you’ve worked so hard to build. biBERK is able to lower insurance costs by almost 20 percent because it insures small businesses directly, without the added expense of working through an intermediary or insurance broker.
You can feel confident knowing biBerk is a part of Berkshire Hathaway, headed by well-known investor Warren Buffett. It’s a firm with millions of satisfied customers that’s been insuring businesses for more than 75 years.
Attorneys Advantage: Best for smaller legal practices in Indiana
The Attorneys Advantage Professional Liability Insurance Program is another affiliate of AON. It specializes in providing law firms with between one and 25 attorneys with affordable professional liability insurance protection.
Whether you and your firm face standard risks or non-standard ones because of your areas of specialization or past claim history, Attorneys Advantage should be able to quote and cover your business.
The firm has built a proprietary online platform to generate a legal malpractice insurance quote in minutes. You can get a simple quote for legal malpractice coverage or a broader one for complete business coverage.
Because, like CoverWallet, Attorneys Advantage is a subsidiary of AON, it appears that the quoting process is empowered by CoverWallet. The quote we got from Attorneys Advantage is the same as the one from CoverWallet. In addition, you can expect superior coverage, responsive claims processing, and expert support to help you reduce risks so you can save on your insurance costs.
L Squared Insurance: Best for coverage from an agency that specializes in law firms
L Squared has more than 60 years of experience in the legal professional liability field. The firm is known for:
- Serving more than 4,000 satisfied clients in the legal industry
- Having access to more than 30 top-rated carriers
- Serving attorneys in 49 states
- It’s A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau
L Squared’s experienced agents can likely connect you with coverage that’s right for you.
What is professional liability insurance for lawyers?
Professional liability insurance for legal professionals is also referred to as errors and omissions (E&O), lawyers professional liability, and legal malpractice insurance. Considering all the perils faced every day by people who do legal work, it’s one of the most important coverages a lawyer or law firm can purchase.
Professional liability is a type of coverage that protects lawyers and law firms against claims that legal services provided caused a client to suffer financial harm due to mistakes made (errors) or because someone failed to provide adequate service (omissions).
Legal malpractice claims occur when a lawyer or someone working at a law firm is alleged to have not performed their duties according to the normal standards of professional and ethical conduct. Even if a breach of standards has not occurred, some clients may view a legal result that’s not in their favor as enough of a reason to file a malpractice suit against their lawyer or law firm. The truth is that even the most careful, diligent, and by-the-book law firms are subject to costly claims.
Lawyers and law firms are at risk of being sued for many things, including misinterpreting the law, offering bad advice, missed deadlines, conflicts of interest, and more.
Given how common legal malpractice lawsuits have become, having the right legal malpractice insurance coverage is critical for Indiana lawyers and law firms.
For law firms, in addition to legal malpractice insurance, you may also need another business insurance to protect your law firm. Learn more about the best business insurance for law firms.
Is professional liability insurance for lawyers required in Indiana?
The State of Indiana doesn’t require the coverage, but most people in the legal profession in the state have it. That’s because malpractice lawsuits against lawyers in Indiana are relatively common, and costs associated with them can easily top one million dollars, even if a lawyer is found innocent.
Who needs lawyer insurance in Indiana?
A wide array of legal professionals in Indiana need this type of coverage, including:
- Attorneys
- Bankruptcy referees
- Barristers
- Criminal law offices
- Corporate attorneys
- Counselors at law
- Estate lawyers and offices
- Lawyers
- Law firms and offices
- Legal aid offices
- Patent solicitor’s offices
- Estate lawyers and law offices
- Family lawyers and practices
- One person practices
- Private practices
- Real estate lawyers and law offices
- Tax lawyers and law offices
- Pro bono lawyers
What does professional liability insurance for lawyers cover in Indiana?
Errors and omissions insurance covers the cost of defending a lawyer or legal practice in a civil lawsuit and certain damages awarded, even if the lawsuit ends up being groundless.
Common claims that legal professional liability insurance covers are negligence, misrepresentation, violation of good faith and fair dealing, and inaccurate advice. Some policies could also cover privacy violations.
Legal professional liability protection is not part of your general liability or commercial property insurance. General liability covers costs associated with injuries that happen to clients, visitors, and passers-by on your business property. Commercial property insurance covers property damage that occurs while doing business.
What does professional liability insurance for lawyers not cover in Indiana?
Coverage does not include costs related to criminal prosecution, along with a wide range of liabilities under civil laws that may not be covered unless specifically written into the policy. Because of the complex nature of this coverage, it’s essential that you work with an experienced legal insurance professional to ensure you get the coverage you need to address the specific risks you or your practice face.
Why should Indiana attorneys and law firms carry attorney malpractice insurance?
Indiana lawyers and attorneys, like other types of professionals, face the risk of having a malpractice lawsuit filed against them. Some attorneys specialize in legal malpractice and file lawsuits against other attorneys on behalf of clients who believe their lawyers were negligent in providing legal services.
Some legal malpractice verdicts have been for tens of millions of dollars, which is clearly enough to bankrupt most lawyers and law firms in Indiana.
According to the American Bar Association, the most common types of malpractice claims in Indiana include the failure to know or apply the law, making planning errors, performing too little discovery or investigation, failing to file critical documents, doing inadequate scheduling, and failing to respect deadlines.
Due to the complexity of many lawsuits against lawyers in Indiana, the challenging legal environment in the state, the large number of parties involved in many lawsuits, and the countless deadlines that must be met, it’s easy for attorneys to make an error or omission, which could be used as the basis for a legal malpractice claim. The legal environment in the state makes it important for Indiana law professionals to carry attorney malpractice insurance with adequate coverage and limits.
A representative from one of the six insurers on our list can help you find the right coverage for you.
If a law firm has professional liability insurance, does it also need management liability insurance?
It’s possible, especially for larger law firms. Management liability insurance, also known as directors and officers (D&O) coverage, helps protect partners from financially devastating lawsuits against them or their firm. A professional with experience in legal firm insurance can advise you on whether your firm needs this coverage.
Similar to many bigger companies, startups and small businesses and nonprofits also need D&O coverage to protect themselves. Learn more at the best D&O insurance for startups and why nonprofits also need D&O insurance.
How much does professional liability insurance for lawyers cost in Indiana?
The price of legal professional liability coverage varies more than almost any other type of business insurance, except for similar coverage for medical professionals. It’s dependent on many factors, including the type of law practice, size of the operation, the experience of the members of the legal team, location in Indiana, and other factors.
The best way to ensure you’re paying a fair price for your professional liability coverage is to get quotes from multiple providers. That way, you can compare coverages and costs to find the best combination for you.
If you have any doubts about your professional liability coverage or other business insurance, speak with an experienced agent.
How to find cheap professional liability insurance for lawyers in Indiana
While this is a type of coverage you don’t want to skimp on, here are some tips to help you find the coverage you need at a fair price:
- Shop around for the best value. Get quotes from a few companies or compare the multiple quotes generated by a service like CoverWallet.
- Don’t stop shopping around. Make sure you get new quotes before you renew your policy.
- Take advantage of discounts. If they’re not offered to you when getting a quote, ask about them, whether you’re buying online or through an agent.
Taking these steps will help ensure you’re not paying too much for your professional liability and other business coverage.
