Imagine the consequences for your law firm if there were a serious accident, fire or theft at the office. As a lawyer you know personal injury lawsuits are costly, stressful and time consuming, and theft, fire and other disasters can impact your ability to serve clients and run your business.
Insurance protection against these risks isn’t just nice to have, it’s critical for protecting your law practice and your legal career. Without adequate insurance protection, your firm could have difficulty bouncing back. To protect your business and its contents from the risk of injuries and damage, you need a Business Owner’s Policy.
About Business Owner’s Insurance for Law Firms
A Business Owner’s Policy or BOP is must-have for your law firm—think of it like a homeowner’s policy for your practice. You homeowner’s policy provides protection for your property and its contents as well as general liability protection. In the same way, a BOP protects your commercial property, including your law office and its contents, and provides liability coverage in case of injuries or property damage.
With a BOP, you and your firm are protected from lawsuits and legal liability as a result of damages or accidents. Your BOP coverage will provide protection for legal fees and judgements associated with lawsuits, as well as cover the costs to repair damages to protected property.
Examples of Business Owner’s Policy Coverage
BOP coverage for lawyers and law firms often combines coverages for General Liability and Commercial Property into a single broad policy. These coverages can protect you and your firm from a wide range of common risks. Here are a few typical examples of BOP coverage:
- Your office is redecorating and places a new rug in the conference room. An older client trips over the rug and falls breaking their hip, resulting in costly medical care and a claim for damages. Your BOP’s general liability coverage covers the costs.
- Another tenant in your office building is in the news. A reporter attributes a negative comment to one of your firm’s staff members, and the tenant sues your firm for slander and libel. Your general liability protection handles the claim.
- A junior attorney is sent to drop off time-sensitive paperwork at the home of an important client. Their car’s parking brake fails on a steep incline and the client’s gate and personal vehicle are damaged. Your BOP provides coverage for this property damage.
- Your marketing department is rushing to finish a new ad campaign. Copyrighted artwork makes it into the final design and the artist sues for intellectual property infringement and damages. Your BOP provides coverage to settle the claim.
- Your office landlord is having some maintenance work done on the building’s power supply. A mistake by the workers causes an after-hours electrical fire to break out. Your BOP covers the damages to your rented furniture and personal law library.
- The building hires a new vendor to perform overnight cleaning and one night the building is left unsecured. Thieves enter and steal electronics from your practice’s conference room. Your BOP protection ensures you can replace what has been taken.
BOP Protection for Your Law Practice
Lawyers and law firms face new challenges every day. The risk of an injury, damages or legal liability affecting the operation of your law practice are high in today’s complex world. Just as you trust Professional Liability coverage to protect your career and practice from malpractice claims, it’s important to protect against other risks with Business Owner’s Policy coverage. BOP protection ensures your firm will not be face costly lawsuits, injury claims or damages alone.
Information provided by Attorney Protective is not intended as legal advice. This publication provides best practices for use in connection with general circumstances, and ordinarily does not address specific situations. These best practices are not intended to meet or establish the standard of care, and sometimes recommend practices that exceed the standard of care. Specific situations should be discussed with legal counsel licensed in the appropriate jurisdiction. By publishing practice and risk prevention tips, Attorney Protective neither implies nor provides any guarantee that claims can be prevented by use of the suggested practices. Though the contents of Attorney Protective’s Best Practice Database have been carefully researched, Attorney Protective makes no warranty as to the accuracy, applicability or timeliness of the content. Anyone wishing to reproduce any part of the Attorney Protective Best Practices Database content must request permission from Attorney Protective by calling 877-728-8776 or sending an email to [email protected]. Additionally, the rules cited in the contents of this article may have since changed. You should check the laws and model rules in your state for specific information on the topics addressed here.