Early Reporting of Claims and Potential Claims

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Many of our risk management video tips are surrounding the need for early reporting of claims and potential claims. A very important risk management tip. In this same vein, I want to talk about the angry client. 

Many insureds have had this situation where a client unexpectedly shows up at the office, or calls you on the phone to express their displeasure about something you did or something that has happened. 

Perhaps their case is taking too long. They haven’t heard from you in a few weeks, their phone call wasn’t returned, or they’re just not feeling the love from your office. Don’t just shrug this off as that’s just Joe being Joe, or they just want to blow off steam, or you convince yourself that nothing you did was wrong or incorrect and it’ll blow over. 

Unfortunately, many insureds take this approach and find themselves embroiled in a legal malpractice suit down the road. As with any claim or potential claim, report the issue, let the carrier know about it and let them decide if it meets the definition of a claim or potential claim. And if you don’t report it, at least call the malpractice hotline that may be available to you from your carrier. Most insurance carriers do provide a hotline for this type of situation and you would be well advised to use it. It is part of the benefits program of being an insured.

Don’t be the cautionary tale of an unhappy client.

Legal Malpractice Avoidance Tips – Don’t Go Into Business With Your Client

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Conflicts of interest have always been a concern to underwriters of legal malpractice insurance. Conflicts come in different shapes and sizes and can oftentimes be difficult to identify. Most attorneys won’t represent both parties in an auto accident or the husband and wife in a divorce matter, but sometimes are quick to jump into a business venture with a client. I don’t know why, but it seems to me that recently, attorneys are more willing to overlook or downplay the serious nature of getting into business with a client. 

Whether you want to invest in the client’s business or take an active role in operating the clients business, both are fraught with legal malpractice dangers. Usually, in the end, it’s just not worth the risk or the friendship to be in business with a client. Now, I can’t tell you not to go into business with a client, but I can tell you that if you do decide to do it, make sure you are well aware of the dangers of doing so and review and dissect all of the pros and cons. 

Review the insurance policy; how does this affect the insurance coverage? Talk to your insurance broker and other professionals such as your accountant and business consultant and call the legal malpractice hotline of your insurance company. You can discuss the situation with a legal malpractice attorney. This benefit is usually included in the policy for insureds of most insurance companies. Find out all the insurance information good and bad before jumping into business with a client.

Legal Malpractice Avoidance Tips – Be Sure To Advise Your Client Correctly On Social Media

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In litigation settings, a lot of issues occur where a client comes into the lawyer’s office and says, “oh, well, I hurt my leg and I think we have a lawsuit against whoever for my injury.” But then you go on their social media and see they have a bunch of different pictures of themselves doing various things that might compromise the claim. Number one, you have to adequately scrutinize that to determine if the client really has a potential manner of telling you the truth. 

A lot of questions come up with “what do I tell my client?” “Can I advise my client to change their privacy settings?” Yes, you can advise your client to change the privacy settings for the use of social media and there you’ll see the PBA ethics opinion 2014-300. Now, it’s a little bit dated at this point, but it does give you a general overview about advising clients on the use of social media.

Meet Scott Eberle

Scott Eberle is on several insurance carriers defense panels. He’s been doing this type of work for many years. In my opinion, he’s one of the best presenters of legal malpractice and how to prevent it. So I think you’re in for a treat in terms of taking back some good information that you can implement in your firms.

Scott Eberle Attorney

“My name is Scott Eberle, I am an attorney at Burns White in Pittsburgh where my practice focuses on representation of professionals, lawsuits and ethics matters. I’m focused on representation of lawyers in legal malpractice lawsuits, as well as ethics issues either in front of the office of disciplinary Council, or just general ethics consultation. I help attorneys navigate the issues that come up in their practice and I’m able to provide guidance on what you need to do to follow the rules of professional conduct to not get yourself in potential trouble with the disciplinary council.”

Legal Malpractice Avoidance Tips – You Must Stay Current With Technology

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Staying current with technology is included in comment eight of 1.1 competence rule. In other words, everyone, I think, is familiar with the 1.1 competence rule of professional conduct that says a lawyer shall provide competent representation to the client. Commenting to that rule 1.1 says to maintain the relevant knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including benefits and risks associated with relevant technology. 

A lot of the issues that come up today that I see are either lawyers’ use of technology as far as utilizing Facebook, Twitter and things like that in their own practice, as well as advising a client as to their use of technology. And there is a pretty good ethics PBA opinion that describes the lawyer’s role with regard to technology and the lawyer’s role in the use of technology on behalf of the lawyer and also representing the client and advising the client on the use of technology.

Meet Scott Eberle

Scott Eberle is on several insurance carriers defense panels. He’s been doing this type of work for many years. In my opinion, he’s one of the best presenters of legal malpractice and how to prevent it. So I think you’re in for a treat in terms of taking back some good information that you can implement in your firms.

Scott Eberle Attorney

“My name is Scott Eberle, I am an attorney at Burns White in Pittsburgh where my practice focuses on representation of professionals, lawsuits and ethics matters. I’m focused on representation of lawyers in legal malpractice lawsuits, as well as ethics issues either in front of the office of disciplinary Council, or just general ethics consultation. I help attorneys navigate the issues that come up in their practice and I’m able to provide guidance on what you need to do to follow the rules of professional conduct to not get yourself in potential trouble with the disciplinary council.”

Legal Malpractice Avoidance Tips – Write Down All Of Your Work

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If you don’t have any writing about what work you did, it’s pretty difficult to justify the work that you did perform.

I suggest this to everybody. Even if you’re not billing hourly it’s easier to write down what you did because if you get in that situation later, it’s a lot easier to say this is the work I did and I earned that fee; I know that because I wrote it down.

And you don’t need to, but if you write down and send the work that you are doing to your client periodically, it’s even better.

Scott Eberle is on several insurance carriers defense panels. He’s been doing this type of work for many years. In my opinion, he’s one of the best presenters of legal malpractice and how to prevent it. So I think you’re in for a treat in terms of taking back some good information that you can implement in your firms.

Meet Scott Eberle

Scott Eberle Attorney

“My name is Scott Eberle, I am an attorney at Burns White in Pittsburgh where my practice focuses on representation of professionals, lawsuits and ethics matters. I’m focused on representation of lawyers in legal malpractice lawsuits, as well as ethics issues either in front of the office of disciplinary Council, or just general ethics consultation. I help attorneys navigate the issues that come up in their practice and I’m able to provide guidance on what you need to do to follow the rules of professional conduct to not get yourself in potential trouble with the disciplinary council.”

Legal Malpractice Avoidance Tips – Identify Who You Represent and What You Are Doing on His or Her Behalf

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With any representation that you enter into make sure that you are adequately identifying who you represent and what you are doing on behalf of that party and that is that that will help you navigate your way and to avoid potential conflict situations.

Scott Eberle is on several insurance carriers defense panels. He’s been doing this type of work for many years. In my opinion, he’s one of the best presenters of legal malpractice and how to prevent it. So I think you’re in for a treat in terms of taking back some good information that you can implement in your firms.

Meet Scott Eberle

Scott Eberle Attorney

“My name is Scott Eberle, I am an attorney at Burns White in Pittsburgh where my practice focuses on representation of professionals, lawsuits and ethics matters. I’m focused on representation of lawyers in legal malpractice lawsuits, as well as ethics issues either in front of the office of disciplinary Council, or just general ethics consultation. I help attorneys navigate the issues that come up in their practice and I’m able to provide guidance on what you need to do to follow the rules of professional conduct to not get yourself in potential trouble with the disciplinary council.”

Legal Malpractice Avoidance Tips – Use Countersigned Engagement Letters

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Scott Eberle is on several insurance carriers defense panels. He’s been doing this type of work for many years. In my opinion, he’s one of the best presenters of legal malpractice and how to prevent it. So I think you’re in for a treat in terms of taking back some good information that you can implement in your firms.

Meet Scott Eberle

“My name is Scott Eberle, I am an attorney at Burns White in Pittsburgh where my practice focuses on representation of professionals, lawsuits and ethics matters. I’m focused on representation of lawyers in legal malpractice lawsuits, as well as ethics issues either in front of the office of disciplinary Council, or just general ethics consultation. I help attorneys navigate the issues that come up in their practice and I’m able to provide guidance on what you need to do to follow the rules of professional conduct to not get yourself in potential trouble with the disciplinary council.”

The technique of adding a signature to a previously signed document is known as countersigning. The agreement between two or more parties is approved by the countersignature. By having a client countersign documents, you have proof that the client received it and they read it.

Just remember, you must look at the engagement letter as a contract between you and the client. It’s a contract that basically says what you’re going to do, and how you’re going to do it. If you must approach that every time, there are some good samples out there that you can get on the internet. Those are great, I think, but I do caution you, I think the best way to effectively utilize an engagement letter is to customize it every time. Because if you’re not customizing the letter, you’re missing out on an opportunity to really limit your potential liability down the road if anything should ever come up.

Cyber Security Challenge Level 4: Always enable multi-factor authentication

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Welcome to the level up your cyber security in October program courtesy of integrity first Corporation. 

We’re on level four, the final week, which is enabling multi-factor authentication, or you might know it as two factor authentication. 

Now in computer security an authentication factor is anything you use to authenticate yourself with a system. Using a password is the most common type of authentication. With multi factor authentication, MFA, or two factor authentication 2FA, you use two or more different factors to log in. 

One example is a password and a verification code sent to your smartphone. This is something that’s really common whenever you sign into banks. This is an extra layer of security. So even if one of your factors is stolen, like your password, the hacker doesn’t have access to the other authentication factor like your phone. 

This stops them from accessing your account. As more and more organizations implement multi-factor authentication to strengthen their security practices, you might encounter different types of authentication factors. 

There are three different types you might be asked to provide. So something you know, which are passwords and security questions. Something you have, such as a verification code on your phone or a key card or something you are such as biometrics, like your fingerprint or a scan of your face. The more factors you use, the better your security. 

Having a combination of authentication factors is an even better way to keep your data protected. 

If you have any questions about any of these levels, please contact integrity first Corporation for help.

Cyber Security Challenge Level 3: Update Often

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Welcome to level up your cybersecurity in October program from integrity first Corporation. It’s week three, and we’re going to talk about updating your software and the importance of it. 

Hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in unpatched software. When new software updates come out to the public, it allows everyone, especially hackers, to learn about the weaknesses that were there and take advantage of them. 

Public Knowledge of those holes leave you and your organization as easy prey. So what should you do? You should update or patch your software. That makes you less vulnerable to security risks. If an update becomes available on your device, update it properly. Better yet, enable your phone, desktop, laptop to auto update, which will automatically install anything security wise that you might need automatically as soon as it’s available to you. 

In the case of a Red Cross breach as an example, they did not install an update fast enough and gave hackers access to over 50,000 people’s data. This is just one example of many malicious software attacks that happen every day and a perfect reason why you should update your software.

Join us next week for level four!

Cyber Security Challenge Level 2: Passwords – Long, Unique and Complex

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Welcome to integrity first Corporation, cybersecurity in October program. In week two, we are going to discuss using strong passwords and perhaps a password manager. 

To create a strong password, there are a few tips and tricks to remember. The reason that you want a strong password is it’ll help you keep your data secure. In fact, according to IDtheftcenter.org studies have found that a passwords guessability by hacking software decreases exponentially with every additional character. 

Creating something that’s easy to remember, but hard to guess is key to a successful password. 

Perhaps you’ll want to incorporate a favorite song, a favorite quote, your favorite sports player into a password and it becomes more complex and difficult to guess. You’ll want to make sure that it’s at least 12 characters long, has uppercase and lowercase letters in it, has at least two numbers, and it has at least one symbol in it. 

One thing that I commonly suggest is use the lyrics to one of your favorite songs like flymetothemoon!12 or something along those lines. You want to make sure that it’s something that might be a little bit more difficult for someone to perhaps put in, guess, or even have machine learning guess. 

The other thing is, you’ll want to have a unique password for each account. 

The average American has over 90 passwords. So one thing that you’ll want to do or look into is a password manager app that can help you remember your passwords. A password manager is basically a secure vault for all of your passwords. Basically like a glorified post-it note that sticks on your computer, but a lot more secure. 

You only have to remember the one password to get into your Password Manager app, which will allow you and your computer to access the rest of your passwords for all of your logins. 

Typically, depending upon the application that you purchase, you can access these passwords on your phone, tablet, laptop or desktop. This also means you can and should create different passwords for every single online account that you have. This should keep you ahead of any hackers.

Let INF know if you have any questions and join us next week for Level Three.