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20 Advocate 1 (1977)

handle is hein.barjournals/adisb0020 and id is 1 raw text is: Boise, Idaho Am3.ry, 1977 Bar Commission Goes Forward On Self-Insurance By Mack A. Redford, President The Idaho State Bar Because of an apparent overwhelming interest by members of the Idaho State Bar in exploring some form of self- insurance for legal malpractice coverage the Board of Commissioners is giving this project top priority. At its regular meeting Jan. 15 in Cald- well, much of the session was devoted to discussing various alternatives in either forming an Idaho-only reciprocal insuring ssociation, or in the alternative forming a self-insurance pool with some of the smaller Western states. Hopefully, the membership can be pre- sented with a specific proposal or proposals within the next 30 to 60 days. Cause for Concern The reason for this action is the dramatic increase in premiums for malpractice in- surance facing most members of the Idaho Bar, particularly in view of the fact that payment of claims apparently has been minimal in this state. It would appear from information re- ceived by the State Bar office that most malpractice carriers have tripled their rates, approximately, since last year. Also, many young attorneys, even though they have no loss experience, are experiencing great difficulty in securing any insurance coverage. While most Idaho lawyers can get mal- practice insurance, only the claims made policy is now available, and there is every indication that premiums will rise much higher in the immediate future. Sell-Insurance Alternatives The two alternatives in self-insurance now being studied by the Bar Commission are a pooling arrangement among several Western states, and a reciprocal insuring association for Idaho lawyers only. The advantages to each, of course, would be that insurance policies could be (Continued on Page 5) SELF-INSURAN CE rAV R ED IN MALPRACTI J= Mcmbcrs of the Idaho State Bar ex- Where e pressed strong interest in exploring self- Claims data rec~eived so7 from insur- insurance alternatives for legal malpractice ance companies writing malpractice cover- insurance, in a poll taken this month. age in Idaho are at best confusing. Almost Nearly half of the membership turned in always, claims reserves are carried as questionnaires, which is an unprecedented losses. rate of return for any poll ever taken of Thus, one part of the questionnaire the membership of the Idaho State Bar. dealt with claims experience of the In brief, this is the result of the poll: attorneys themselves. Most Idaho lawyers carry malpractice Out of more than 500 questionnaires insurance, returned, only ten said claims ever had The most widely carried limits are been filed against them. Of this, the 100,000/300,000 with no coverage for survey shows that $1,400 has been paid securities work. out on behalf of Idaho lawyers in the last By far the majority have never had a 20 years. claim filed against them. The largest settlement reported was one for $1,200. Another case was settled Most favor exploring self-insurance. for $200. Two were settled or dismissed Most would participate in such an insur- with nothing for the plaintiff. ance plan if it were offered. The following are the amounts of prayers in reported pending cases: $9 million, $2.5 million, $500,000, $100,000, $27,000 and Bakes Sworn In $23,500. (In an effort to clarify the malpractice To New Termi claims situation in Idaho, all local Bar Justice Robert E. Bakes was sworn in association presidents have been asked to Jan. 3 to a new six-year term on the Idaho report fully on the malpractice situation in Supreme Court, in ceremonies held before their local judicial district.) the court in Boise. Justice Bakes was appointed to the court in 1972 by Gov. Cecil Andrus. Before his appointment to the bench he was in private practice in Boise. Law for Non-Lawyer Program Expands The Idaho Law Foundation's Law for Non-Lawyers course has been expanded to include presentations in Blackfoot and Emmett. The course, which gives basic informa- tion on various legal topics, was first offered several years ago in Coeur d'Alene. As modified, it since has been given at Ricks College, Idaho State University and Boise State University. It is currently being offered through Boise Community Schools. Detailed Results of Survey A total of 456 attorneys in private practice answered the survey. Of this number, 77 said they carry no malpractice coverage. Of those who do, these are the limits carried: $100,000 or less - 32 $100,000/$300,000 - 177 $1 million - 153 More than $1 million - 20 Does this include securities coverage? Yes - 49 No - 259 Has a claim or claims been filed against you? Yes - 10 No - 440 No response - 6 (Continued on Page 2) Vol. 20, No. 1

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