Legal Malpractice Claims Are Up

A report from the ABA looked at malpractice insurance claims from 2012-15 and found that claims have been rising. Smaller firms have been getting hit the hardest, but larger law firms have also been targets. They tend to settle rather than risk expensive judgments, according to Thomas McGarry, a partner at Chicago-based Hinshaw and Culbertson, which has a large professional liability practice. He says the greater frequency of claims is due to difficult economic conditions, and also to an increased interest in “consumer law.” It’s become relatively easier to file consumer lawsuits, he says, and more lawyers are have gotten interested in doing it.