Professional liability · Lawyers
Professional Liability Insurance for Lawyers
A client entrusts you with a matter that has a clear financial value. Professional indemnity responds if the way it was handled leads to a claim against your firm.
The subject matter
What cover for a law firm addresses.
A lawyer’s liability responds to client claims for loss from the handling of a matter or from the advice given. Depending on the policy, both the indemnity and the costs of defence are covered.
In legal work it is the value of the matters, not their number, that sets the risk.
Areas of practice
Every practice area carries its own exposure.
Cover is built around the practice areas you declare. Here is what insurers look at in the most common ones.
Litigation
Representation before the courts, appeals and remedies. What matters here is procedural deadlines and how your firm keeps track of them.
Advisory and corporate
Opinions, drafting and reviewing contracts, corporate reorganisations and due diligence. Exposure tracks the value of the transaction that relied on the advice.
Real estate and conveyancing
Title investigation, transfers and security. An error in title work usually produces a clear, measurable financial loss for the client.
Handling client funds and documents
Where the firm holds money or title documents for a client, insurers treat this separately from ordinary professional indemnity. Raise it with us early, because it is not always covered on the same terms.
Intellectual property and trade marks
Registrations, renewals and strict deadlines. A renewal that slips can cost the client the right itself.
Law firms and partnerships
For corporate structures we consider whether cover should sit with the firm, whether it includes partners and associates, and how joiners and leavers during the policy year are treated.
The measure
How the limit of indemnity is set.
A firm with a few high-value matters may need a higher limit than one carrying far more work.
That is where the conversation about the limit starts — not from a standard figure that applies to everyone.
What is assessed
The factors that shape the limit.
- Areas of practiceHow the work is distributed across practice areas, expressed approximately in percentages.
- Value of mattersThe typical value of the matters you handle — the most direct measure of exposure.
- Size of the firmNumber of lawyers, partners and associates, and how responsibility is allocated between them.
- Client profilePrivate individuals, corporates or institutional clients, and whether any are based outside Greece.
- Deadline managementA firm with a solid system for tracking limitation periods and procedural dates presents better when underwriters assess the risk.
- Retroactive dateHow far back cover reaches for matters you have already handled. For an established firm, often the most consequential line in a quotation.
Common questions
Questions lawyers ask.
Are defence costs covered?
Yes, under most professional indemnity policies. What matters is whether they come out of the limit or sit on top of it, since that changes how much is left to pay the client. It is one of the first things we check in any quotation.
Is a missed procedural deadline covered?
A missed deadline is the classic unintentional omission and is usually covered, subject to the policy terms. A deliberate breach of duty is a different matter, and policies exclude it.
Does the firm need separate cover from its partners?
Usually yes, or at least a policy clause that names them. A claim can be brought against the firm, against the individual lawyer, or both, and the aim is to leave no gap between the two.
What about matters I handled at a previous firm?
That depends on the retroactive date and on what the previous firm’s cover provided. It is one of the points worth settling on departure, rather than when a claim appears.
Do clients ask for it?
Institutional clients, banks and foreign companies often ask for evidence of cover before instructing, and it is a common requirement in financed transactions. For many firms it is now a condition of the engagement rather than something optional.
By profession
Professional liability by profession.
- AccountantsAccounting services, filings, deadlines, advice.
- EngineersDesign, calculations, specifications, site supervision.
- DoctorsPrivate practice, clinic affiliation, by specialty.
The first conversation
Let us look at the cover that fits your firm.
From your practice areas to the value of the matters you handle, we help you set a limit that reflects the work you actually do.