I think that everyone in the field is or will soon be feeling the pain of malpractice insurance rate hikes. Diedre Greg in Seattle has the story: Patent lawyers are slammed by insurance rates
Amity Insurance has developed their list of the top ten most common causes of attorney malpractice. Although the order may be somewhat different for patent attorneys, all of these are real issues.
1. Missing Deadlines
2. Lawyer Stress and Substance Abuse
3. Conflicts of Interest
4. Ineffective Client Screening
5. Inadequate Research and Investigation
6. Poor Client Relations
7. Overzealous Efforts to Collect a Fee
8. Poor or Inadequate Documentation
9. Inappropriate Involvement in Client’s Business
10. Unwillingness to Believe You Might Be Sued
Samuel Oddi (UAkron), has a working paper discussing the recent increase in malpractice claims and provides an analysis of the exposure of patent attorneys to malpractice claims.
In other insurance news, Universal Security has sued its insurer (the Hartford) for failing to cover patent litigation costs. (Article).