From the President, 1219 GABJ, GSB Vol. 25, No. 3, Pg. 6

AuthorDARRELL SUTTON President State Bar of Georgia.
PositionVol. 25 3 Pg. 6

From the President

Vol. 25 No. 3 Pg. 6

Georgia Bar Journal

December, 2019

Mandatory Professional Liability Insurance? Let Us Hear from You

DARRELL SUTTON President State Bar of Georgia.

For more than a year now, the leader- ship and staff of the State Bar of Georgia have been studying the issue of mandatory professional liability insurance. Specifically, we are considering a requirement—as some other state bars have—for our members who are active in private practice to carry such insurance, or at least to disclose whether they are covered.

As we continue seeking the appropriate balance between protecting both the public and the profession, we are seeking the opinions of Bar members from around the state. There are many questions that have to be asked and answered before proceeding. We are providing a number of ways to collect feedback from Bar members. Before getting to those though, an update on the options being considered.

Our Professional Liability Insurance (PLI) Committee, chaired by Chris Twyman of Rome, is taking a fresh look at the issue of mandatory insurance coverage. After taking into consideration the substantial feedback received from Bar members during the past Bar year, the committee has modified the draft rule that was presented to the Board of Governors last spring, and is also presenting three additional options for discussion.

Option One would require all lawyers in private practice to disclose on their license fee statement whether they are covered by a malpractice insurance policy. The information would be published in each member’s listing in the online Member Directory. Lawyers in private practice who fail to disclose would go out of good standing on Sept. 1 of the Bar year, which is the same date that members who do not pay their license fees cease to be in good standing. To return to good standing, the member would need to make the insurance disclosure to the Membership Department of the Bar. Lawyers who have coverage would not be required to provide information about the insurance company, policy number or policy limits.

Bar members exempted from disclosure under Option One include inactive members, government lawyers, in-house counsel and arbitrators/mediators. The online Member Directory would also include a disclaimer about the PLI disclosure, similar to the one used by the Colorado Bar: “This information is intended to present a general...

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