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ACE Advantage® Employed Lawyers Professional Liability

Market competition and the need to operate "lean and mean" have led to in-house counsel performing duties normally entrusted to outside law firms. Corporate attorneys are now confronted with increasing malpractice liability exposures, especially to non-client third parties. The ACE Advantage® Employed Lawyers Professional Liability product is quality coverage designed to afford the flexibility necessary to respond to the expanding needs of the legal professional in an ever-changing business environment.

Benefits:

  • Full prior acts coverage available in most instances
  • Coverage provided for professional liability claims for services rendered to an ERISA fiduciary
  • Duty to defend covered claims, not just "suits"
  • Full severability of fraud and personal profit exclusions

Coverage:

  • Broad Definition of "Claim," including:
    • Written demands, civil proceedings, or arbitration proceedings for monetary or non-monetary damages or injunctive relief
    • Civil, administrative or regulatory investigations
    • Judicial, administrative, bar association or other proceedings concerning:
      • The eligibility or license to practice law, or
      • Compliance with Section 307 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
      • Any proceedings by a regulatory or disciplinary official, board or agency to investigate charges of professional misconduct
  • Broad Definition of "Damages," including:
    • Prejudgment and post-judgment interest on that part of any judgment paid
    • Punitive and exemplary damages and the multiplied portion of any multiple damage award (where allowed)
  • Broad Definition of "Professional Legal Services," including:
    • Pro bono legal services provided by a full-time employed lawyer
    • "Moonlighting" services provided by a full-time employed lawyer
    • Legal services provided by non-attorney employees when assisting in-house counsel

 

Limits

Up to $20 million

Client Profile

In-house counsel and legal departments handling general corporate legal matters, including but not limited to contract negotiations, employment, real estate transactions and contract drafting and review for:

  • Non-for-Profit Organizations
  • Privately-held companies, including LLCs and LLPs
  • Publicly-traded corporations

Restricted Classes

  • Private and Public companies in the following industry groups:
    Financial Institutions
  • Managed Care
  • High Tech and/or Emerging Technology
  • In-house counsel and legal departments that perform legal services related to Securities and
    Exchange Commission (SEC) filings preparation and transactional work, intellectual property, tax itigation, and ERISA compliance.

Forms / Applications

Document Name Size Date
Employed Lawyers Policy.pdf 167 KB 01/12/2012
Employed Lawyers Application_PF20278a.doc 311 KB 01/12/2012
Employed Lawyers Renewal Application_PF34245.doc 162 KB 01/12/2012

Claims Examples

A large manufacturer and retailer was involved in a 10b-5 securities claim and the resulting SEC investigation and proceeding which arose out of a restatement of financials. The general counsel
was named individually in the SEC action. The directors and officers settled, exhausting the first two layers of the D&O insurance in place. The D&O carrier on the third excess layer refused to honor that part of the SEC's judgment on the basis that it focused on the employed lawyer. The ELPL policy filled the coverage gap and paid the damages related to the employed lawyer’s activities.