Isaac Fraim, Author at OAMIC: Legal Malpractice Insurance

What Do ‘Earned’ and ‘Unearned’ Premium Mean?

What Do ‘Earned’ and ‘Unearned’ Premium Mean? Just like with the practice of law, the insurance industry seemingly has its own language. If you don’t work in insurance, it can be confusing – and even frustrating – to not understand the product you’re purchasing. To alleviate this, we’ve covered phrases like “claims-made policy,” “split limits” and even the name of the product itself. Here we’ll look at parts of your premium – specifically “earned” and “unearned.” First, let’s start with the premium....

One Less Thing to Worry About When Opening Your Practice

One Less Thing to Worry About When Opening Your Practice The thought of opening your own practice is thrilling – the prospect of being your own boss and building something all your own is no doubt one of the most exciting endeavors in any profession. However, it can be a little scary too, knowing you’re entirely responsible for every aspect of your livelihood. Ensuring you’ve filed all the proper forms and secured adequate office space can be daunting enough, but there...

Don’t Risk It: Why Even Good Lawyers Need Insurance

Don't Risk It: Why Even Good Lawyers Need Insurance As an attorney, you work hard to provide your clients with the best services and advice possible. However, a client who experiences negative outcomes after using your services could present a risk for you. Lawyers professional liability (LPL) insurance is designed to protect you when this happens. Without LPL insurance in place, you could be personally vulnerable if a claim is brought against you. This type of insurance covers acts, errors or...

Who Is Covered by Your LPL and How Does That Affect Pricing?

Who Is Covered by Your LPL and How Does That Affect Pricing? When law firms are reviewing our lawyers professional liability (LPL) insurance policy, we are asked a myriad of questions concerning pricing and coverage. While these subjects are important, they can get very detailed and complicated, so it’s important to have a good understanding of the basics of your LPL policy to better understand who and what are covered, and how that is reflected in your premium. Every policy we issue...

What’s in a Name: Professional Liability, Legal Malpractice, Professional Indemnity, and Errors & Omissions

What’s in a Name: Professional Liability, Legal Malpractice, Professional Indemnity, and Errors & Omissions As a lawyer, you probably know that it’s in your best interest to have insurance in place to cover the legal services you provide. When looking into your insurance options, or even in conversations with other lawyers or professionals, you may have come across these terms: professional liability (PL), errors and omissions (E&O), malpractice and even professional indemnity. Have you ever wondered which of these is right...

Tips for Returning to the Office

Tips for Returning to the Office Being back to the office, like from an extended work-from-home period, can be tough. Even those who kept a strict routine while working remotely might find it hard to get back to work in a traditional sense – you may have gotten out of bed, dressed and to your home office by 9, but you likely didn’t have to steam your suit, pack a lunch or compensate for a commute time. For those at firms...

Remote Work: Tips for Law Firms

Remote Work: Tips for Law Firms In the last five years alone (and pre-COVID-19), remote work has grown 44%, according to an analysis done by Global Workplace Analytics and FlexJobs. Additionally, 90% of employees say allowing for more flexible work arrangements and schedules would increase employee morale, which directly correlates to employee retention. This drastic increase is largely a result of technology, which makes remote work seamless and desirable. For law firms specifically, there are two common approaches to remote workers. The...

Phone Scam Warning Signs and How to Protect Yourself

Phone Scam Warning Signs and How to Protect Yourself A phone scam, also called telemarketing fraud, refers to any type of scheme in which a criminal communicates with the potential victim via phone, including both phone calls and text messages (via Cornell Law School). This method is often effective, as reputable companies do legitimately use telemarketing to conduct business -- meaning it can be difficult to distinguish between what's real and what's a scam. Warning Signs There are many different types of phone...

Practical Tips to Improve Efficiency at Your Law Office

Practical Tips to Improve Efficiency at Your Law Office Solo lawyers run their own show and wear many hats, while also facing several challenges. But of all the challenges, time management just might be the most difficult to handle. To give your practice the best chance of success, you must be efficient, meaning you achieve maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense. Here are a few tips to help keep your overhead low and your efficiency high. Batching and Automated Tasks Batching: Doing...

8 Easy Tips to Increase Data Security at Your Law Firm

8 Easy Tips to Increase Data Security at Your Law Firm In 2012, then-FBI director Robert Mueller said, “I am convinced that there are only two types of companies: those that have been hacked and those that will be. And even they are converging into one category: companies that have been hacked and will be hacked again.” Mueller’s observation continues to be true today for large global companies and small business alike -- including law firms. There have been numerous reports over...