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Negligence by the attorney, A loss or injury to the client caused by the negligence, and; Financial loss or injury to the client. To satisfy the third element, legal malpractice requires proof of what would have happened had the attorney not been negligent; that is, "but for" the attorney's negligence ("but for" causation). [3]
The negligent act is called legal malpractice and the insuring contract is called lawyers professional liability insurance. or LPL [3] Malpractice coverage is very important to attorneys because a bad case can produce a lot of bad publicity that can significantly harm a law firm's reputation. Nearly all LPL policies are claims made.
A 2011 study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that 75% of physicians in "low-risk" specialties and virtually 100% of physicians in "high-risk" specialties could expect to face a malpractice claim during their careers. However, the authors also noted that the vast majority of malpractice claims did not lead to any indemnity payments.
In common law jurisdictions, medical malpractice liability is normally based on the tort of negligence. [3]Although the law of medical malpractice differs significantly between nations, as a broad general rule liability follows when a health care practitioner does not show a fair, reasonable and competent degree of skill when providing medical care to a patient. [3]
Professional negligence actions require a professional relationship between the professional and the person claiming to have been injured by malpractice. [3] For example, to sue a lawyer for malpractice the person bringing the claim must have had an attorney-client relationship with the lawyer. [4]
The Harvard Medical Practice Study found that only one malpractice claim was filed for every eight negligent medical injuries." Of the legal changes proposed by tort reformers, this study found that states capping payouts and restricting non-economic damages saw an average decrease of 17.1% in malpractice insurance premiums. [23]