Why does my legal malpractice insurance premium increase?

I just received an email from one of our clients asking what would make his legal malpractice increase. He is going through some changes and wants to be proactive. He wants to know if any of these changes will increase his premium.

It is a very difficult, tough question to answer because there is no simple explanation or answer. It is usually a variety of things that will cause legal malpractice insurance premiums to increase.

A couple things just off the cuff?

• Claims, if you have been sued in the last couple of years, that will have an impact on your premium
• The mere fact that you have another year of practice under your belt. More experience will cause your premium to increase.
• Some different areas of practice will cause your premium to increase, such as if you are doing securities work, copyright, patent and trademark or oil and gas work. There are certain areas of practice that carriers are a little bit leery of and because of that, it will cause the premium to increase.

Not a simple answer, not a yes or no, it is a variety of things that will cause your premium to increase. It is always best to give your broker, like me, a call and I will be more than happy to review those issues with you.

Thank you very much.