Mandatory disclosures regarding professional liability insurance
This issue has gotten some attention at MyShingle.com, where it is reported that the State of Indiana is considering making such disclosures mandatory for attorneys.
I question the wisdom of such a rule, since it unnecessarily invades the lawyer-client relationship. That relationship is based on trust and professionalism, and those can be eroded by requiring that issues relating to how compensation will be paid in the event of a violation of professional duties be discussed right at the outset.
The client has a right to know whether he is being protected, but the market already provides a mechanism for policing this interest. A potential client has the right to ask a lawyer whom he considers retaining if he is covered by professional liability insurance, and the lawyer has the right to answer or decline to answer, following which the client has the right to say yea or nay to the proposed relationship.
We do not make physicians make this disclosure in advance. A savvy patient has a right to know and a right to ask, but there is no reason to compel this disclosure to the non-savvy patient.
6:41:37 PM
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