AXA XL Insurance, a division of French insurance and investment giant AXA, has expanded the product offering of its errors & omission program in the U.S and extended its in-house liability underwriting expertise to law firms of all sizes.
The program can now provide any law firm, including defence firms, with comprehensive errors & omission protection against malpractice claims, as well as coverage for licensing and disciplinary proceedings.
AXA XL’s larger product offering also makes both primary and excess coverage available on either an admitted or surplus lines basis, depending on a law firm’s needs.
“Law firms can face some of their own high-dollar legal scenarios arising from things like conflicts of interest to even simple mistakes such as a blown statute of limitations, all of which can lead to large malpractice claims,” said Paul Rowe, Head of Lawyers and Accountants Professional Liability at AXA XL.
“We see a steady rate of such claims but are now watching a more concerning trend — increasingly larger settlements and judgments together with higher claims costs,” he added.
“That’s why law firms, no matter their size, need to make sure that their professional liability coverage can stand up to today’s trends and expectations.”
Rowe continued: “While our team has been addressing these concerns for small law firms of 10 attorneys or less, as well as larger firms with 25 or more attorneys, the team has geared up to bring the same quality of underwriting and coverage to firms of all sizes across most areas of practice, including defense firms.”
Other coverage features of AXA XL Insurance’s errors & omission program include mutual choice of counsel, punitive damages coverage, a ‘soft hammer clause’ and subpoena cover, up to $25,000 defence costs for disciplinary proceedings, and multiple extended reporting period options.
It also offers career coverage for attorneys who are at a firm at the inception date of the first policy issued by AXA XL, and applies to wrongful acts committed and claims brought anywhere in the world.
