Disciplinary Board Proposes Mandatory Liability Insurance Disclosure
The Disciplinary Board has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for a new Section (c) of Rule 1.4 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct, Communication. The new rule would require lawyers to notify new clients in writing if they do not carry professional liability insurance in the amounts of $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 in the aggregate per year. The rule would also require lawyers to inform existing clients in writing at any time the lawyer’s malpractice insurance drops below either of those amounts or if the lawyer’s malpractice insurance is terminated.
The full text of the proposed rulemaking was published at 35 Pa.B. 4300 on August 6, 2005, and is available here. Comments are requested by September 30, 2005.