Insurance for Law Offices
Since law offices are filled with people who are experts at specific types of law, they may be over confident about being able to handle certain situations or problems themselves. Law offices are not immune to accidents, injuries and unforeseen disasters however, thus there are a number of different types of professional business insurance policies they should carry for their firm.
Your law office uses expensive specialized computer equipment and software to provide legal services to your clients, and even a short downtime of that equipment could cost your firm hundreds of thousands of dollars. Specific insurance coverage packages will help protect your law office from losses and client damages due to problems with your computer system, destruction of critical client paperwork, or viruses and bugs in your office software programs.
Additional types of coverage that are important to law offices of all sizes include the following:
General Liability
General liability insurance helps protect your law office from events, problems and catastrophes that you may have never previously thought of. You may have insurance coverage that deals with the loss of specific types of client files for example, but that coverage may not apply to the loss of data or documents that are not specifically listed. General liability helps cover your firm from losses and damages that arise from general events, such as a client tripping on the carpet while coming in for an appointment or having an allergic reaction to the furniture polish your cleaning crew uses on your office desks. You may plan for someone stumbling or tripping in advance, but allergic reactions to cleaning supplies is rarely thought of in advance.
Business Owners
A business owners insurance policy helps protect your firm’s office building and the contents inside of it. In the event that a water pipe bursts and causes water damage to your office furniture and carpeting for example, a business owners policy covers the expenses related to replacing and repairing the furniture and furnishings. If your office building is damaged in a hail storm and you are unable to conduct your day-to-day business operations there until repairs have been made, the business owners policy pays for the repairs and pays for temporary work offices so that your firm can continue conducting business.
Commercial Auto
Lawyers, legal assistants and other law office personnel are constantly on the go. Whether it’s back and forth to the court room or traveling around to meet with clients in their own homes, if you or your employees must travel for business specific purposes, commercial auto insurance helps protect you, your employees and the company vehicles you use.
Workers Compensation
In the United States all employers are required by law to carry workers comp insurance for the protection of both the company and its employees. Even small law firms employ several people as support staff, and workers comp coverage is designed to pay for medical and recuperation care if an employee is injured on the job.
Professional Liability
Professional liability insurance is also known as errors and omissions. This business insurance policy is designed to protect you and your firm from legal and financial liabilities in the event that someone in the firm makes a professional mistake. If the mistake or omission causes financial harm to a client, the professional liability insurance will cover the damages so that your firm does not have to.