Bill > S328

Introduced Session

This bill would require, on and after January 1, 2016, that all attorneys engaged in the private practice of law in New Jersey be covered by legal malpractice liability insurance. Such coverage would either be in the form of a policy maintained by an individual attorney or attorneys, or maintained by a professional corporation, company, or partnership under which an attorney and others engage in the private practice of law. Under any such policy, the minimum amount or limit of coverage for damages resulting from any claim made against an attorney, or a professional corporation, company, or partnership, would be $100,000 per attorney covered by the policy, unless a greater minimum amount or limit of coverage is instead established by Rules of Court promulgated by the New Jersey Supreme Court, in which case the policy would be required to comply with that minimum; but the total amount or limit would not be required to exceed $5,000,000. Under the current Rules of Court, law firms operating as professional corporations, limited liability companies, or limited liability partnerships are already required to maintain legal malpractice liability insurance coverage in the minimum amount or limit of coverage of $100,000 for each attorney they employ, with a total amount or limit not required to exceed $5,000,000. See R.1:21-1A, -1B, and -1C. This bill would codify in statute such mandatory legal malpractice liability insurance coverage requirements for those entities, and extend the requirements to all lawyers in order to capture those lawyers currently not required by court rule to be covered, such as solo practitioners and lawyers practicing in small, general partnerships.

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Nick Scutari (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee (on 01/12/2016)