Underwriting Criteria
Lawyers Professional Liability
Our Lawyers Professional Liability coverage is a great example of our commitment to
deliver greater value to you through innovative, easy-to-write products. The Hartford’s
industry-leading Spectrum® policy for Law Offices is now available with a Lawyers
Professional Liability add-on. Selling this quality protection is an open and shut case –
a great opportunity to offer your legal clients true, one-stop insurance shopping –
and to increase your revenues.
We’ve designed this simple, one-page guide to help you understand our underwriting
appetite for this profitable business. Print it and use it to qualify current Spectrum
customers and new prospects for this innovative add-on coverage. We will provide
updates to this information as our underwriting appetite evolves.
The current underwriting criteria and guidelines for Lawyers Professional Liability
have been clearly defined to streamline and simplify the underwriting process.
Currently, lawyers offices with the following exposures would not be candidates for
Spectrum’s LPL add-on coverage:
• Offices with more than nine attorneys.
• Offices with more than $500,000 in receipts per attorney.
• Offices without a dual docket control system. Several questions on our application
are designed to verify if there is an adequate docket control system (calendar or
diary system) with at least two independent controls (i.e., two people keeping a
calendar, a computer system or a manual system). Question four addresses the timesensitive nature of legal work. If there is only one attorney (sole practitioner) and no
non-attorneys, the law office cannot have an adequate dual docket control system.
• Offices in which any member of the firm has an ownership interest or serves as a
director or officer of any client.
• Any firm that has brought suit against a client for unpaid legal fees. These suits
generally lead to counter-suits, opening the door for claims.
• Any firm where the following practice areas: Plaintiff’s Representation, Domestic
Relations (divorce), Banking or Environmental, account for more than 50 percent of
the firm’s billings in the last year. While these areas of practice involve higher risk,
we do not rule them out entirely.
• Any firm that has performed professional services in the last two years in the
following practice areas: Securities, Intellectual Property, Class Action Litigation,
Entertainment, Commercial Real Estate (real estate development/financing),
Money Management/Investment Advice – all higher-risk practice areas.
continued
• Any firm that has had a professional liability claim brought against it within the last
five years.
• Offices in which any member of the firm is aware of any circumstance (act, error,
omission) that could result in a claim.
• Any firm where coverage has been declined, nonrenewed or cancelled in the last five
years – except in cases where the declination, nonrenewal or cancellation has been
the result of a carrier withdrawing from a market.
• Any office where a member of the firm has had their license (law) revoked,
been subject to disciplinary action by a governing body, or been subject to a fine,
reprimand or criminal penalty relating to legal services.