Professional Liability Blog

This article discusses the Supreme Court of Montana’s opinion in ALPS Property & Casualty Insurance Company v. Keller, Reynolds, Drake, Johnson & Gillespie, P.C. (“ALPS Property”), in which the supreme court decided that Professional Liability insurance coverage was precluded for an entire law firm and three of its attorneys based on the failure of one attorney to disclose a potential legal malpractice claim on an insurance application.  The court found no coverage based on the common law known loss doctrine and based on a prior knowledge provision in the claims-made professional liability policy.     

This article discusses the Supreme Court of Iowa’s opinion in Gray v. Oliver, where the Supreme Court decided, as a matter of first impression, that a judgment creditor could not prosecute a legal malpractice claim it obtained as an involuntary assignment from the judgment debtor. Such an assignment violates public policy and threatens the integrity of the attorney-client relationship.

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District confirmed an attorney is judged by an objective standard when determining whether the attorney should have reported a potential claim to his or her legal malpractice insurance carrier.  Additionally, the court held a legal malpractice cause of action survives death of the client.