Commercial Insurance
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Do I need Business Insurance?
Law firms need business insurance because it helps cover the costs associated with property damage, bodily injury, and personal injury liability claims. Without business insurance, your law firm may have to pay out-of-pocket for costly damages and legal claims against your business. Depending on the incident, this could be a financially devastating scenario for your law firm. In some states and lease agreements, businesses are required to have specific types of business insurance. |
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HERE ARE SOME COMMON BUSINESS INSURANCE YOU MAY NEED FOR YOUR FIRM
Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) combines business property and business liability insurance into one business insurance policy. BOP Insurance helps cover your business from claims resulting from things like fire, theft, windstorm or other covered disasters. Business owners insurance also helps cover claims that could arise from your business’s operation. These include claims of bodily injury or property damage plus all defense and counsel costs. They also include claims related to personal and advertising injury. This type of policy will generally include loss of business income sustained due to a covered cause of loss.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance, also known as workman’s comp or workers’ comp, gives your employees benefits in the event that they have a work-related injury or illness. Your employees may include independent contractors. Since this type of commercial insurance is required in just about every state, there’s not much to think about – your law firm needs to have it. The employees’ benefits from this policy can help:
Workers’ comp also has benefits for you, as a small business owner. If your injured employee or their family sues your business, it can help cover your legal costs.
Commercial Auto Insurance helps cover the costs of an auto accident if you or an employee is at fault. This coverage can help pay for damaged property and medical expenses – even in the event of a fatal accident. Commercial auto insurance can help protect business owners and their companies if, for example:
Fiduciary Liability – Provides coverage for ERISA exposures of fiduciaries for specifically designated plans if caused by a “wrongful act.”
Estate Bond – If your firm handles estates, this might be required to guarantee that you will handle an estate’s assets properly and if not, beneficiaries will still be compensated.
Employment Practices Liability Insurance - The costs associated with employment practice-related claims can be staggering and are on the rise. Employers may face a number of claims and lawsuits over wrongful termination, discrimination, workplace harassment, sexual harassment, and retaliation. And a business owner doesn’t even have to be in the wrong to be sued. The right insurance to cover defense costs and damages related to various employment-related claims can be critically important to help protect business assets. Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) is designed to help protect business owners and their businesses. EPLI can be provided as part of the D&O policy at an extra cost.
Directors & Officers (D&O) Insurance: As in most other businesses, D&O insurance for law firms will protect the firm against suits related to the mismanagement of the firm, causing financial harm. Law firm officers have a unique risk as the attorneys inside the firm could be amongst the most likely to bring a suit against the directors and officers of the firm. A policy must be tailored for a law firm as a normal D&O policy would not cover this exposure. Additional exposures include a failed acquisition, over-extending on partner lateral hires, or tortious interference
Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) combines business property and business liability insurance into one business insurance policy. BOP Insurance helps cover your business from claims resulting from things like fire, theft, windstorm or other covered disasters. Business owners insurance also helps cover claims that could arise from your business’s operation. These include claims of bodily injury or property damage plus all defense and counsel costs. They also include claims related to personal and advertising injury. This type of policy will generally include loss of business income sustained due to a covered cause of loss.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance, also known as workman’s comp or workers’ comp, gives your employees benefits in the event that they have a work-related injury or illness. Your employees may include independent contractors. Since this type of commercial insurance is required in just about every state, there’s not much to think about – your law firm needs to have it. The employees’ benefits from this policy can help:
- Cover their medical care
- Replace most of their lost wages if they take time to recover
- Provide disability benefits
- Pay for their funeral if they lose their life
Workers’ comp also has benefits for you, as a small business owner. If your injured employee or their family sues your business, it can help cover your legal costs.
Commercial Auto Insurance helps cover the costs of an auto accident if you or an employee is at fault. This coverage can help pay for damaged property and medical expenses – even in the event of a fatal accident. Commercial auto insurance can help protect business owners and their companies if, for example:
- An employee hits a pedestrian while driving one of the business vehicles. The pedestrian requires medical treatment that results in large medical bills.
- You swerve off the road while driving to work in a company vehicle and take out a residential mailbox.
- An employee driving to work in a company vehicle hits another car and totals it.
Fiduciary Liability – Provides coverage for ERISA exposures of fiduciaries for specifically designated plans if caused by a “wrongful act.”
Estate Bond – If your firm handles estates, this might be required to guarantee that you will handle an estate’s assets properly and if not, beneficiaries will still be compensated.
Employment Practices Liability Insurance - The costs associated with employment practice-related claims can be staggering and are on the rise. Employers may face a number of claims and lawsuits over wrongful termination, discrimination, workplace harassment, sexual harassment, and retaliation. And a business owner doesn’t even have to be in the wrong to be sued. The right insurance to cover defense costs and damages related to various employment-related claims can be critically important to help protect business assets. Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) is designed to help protect business owners and their businesses. EPLI can be provided as part of the D&O policy at an extra cost.
Directors & Officers (D&O) Insurance: As in most other businesses, D&O insurance for law firms will protect the firm against suits related to the mismanagement of the firm, causing financial harm. Law firm officers have a unique risk as the attorneys inside the firm could be amongst the most likely to bring a suit against the directors and officers of the firm. A policy must be tailored for a law firm as a normal D&O policy would not cover this exposure. Additional exposures include a failed acquisition, over-extending on partner lateral hires, or tortious interference
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MASON & CARTER, INC.
23 SOUTH STREET STREET ADDRESS LINE 2 BALTIMORE, MD 21202-3296 TEL: (410) 539-6767 
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