Company Information
In 2017, Lawyers’ Mutual Insurance Company (LMIC) celebrates its 39 years as the only California-based mutual company continuously providing lawyers throughout the state with professional liability coverage. LMIC is admitted ‘A’ rated carrier.
The Legal Malpractice Insurance Crisis
In the mid-1970s, a number of insurance companies in California were selling under-priced legal malpractice policies. It was also a time of increasing litigation, rapidly contributing to a growing number of legal malpractice suits. Before long, burgeoning malpractice claims started to cost these liability carriers serious money, and many responded by abruptly discontinuing their legal malpractice programs. It was an alarming trend that abandoned thousands of lawyers to an insurance market in which no liability carrier could be counted on to provide reliable and continuous coverage for California lawyers.
Lawyers’ Mutual Provides the Solution
The State Bar of California viewed the situation as a crisis of the first magnitude, both for lawyers and their clients – all functioning without appropriate protection. California desperately needed a legal malpractice carrier capable of weathering any storm. It was clear that the company filling this tall order would have to educate its policyholders in order to help reduce the incidence of malpractice claims. It would also need to charge responsible premiums sufficient to meet current and future financial obligations to policyholders.
Out of this pressing need, Lawyers’ Mutual was born. LMIC was to be a “mutual” company whose policyholders would be member/owners – investing in and benefiting from the company’s stability. In 1979, LMIC issued its first policy. By the mid-1980s, LMIC insured more than a third of California’s lawyers, most of whom had been left high and dry when other malpractice carriers fled the market.
What Makes Us Different
From the outset, we established a unique relationship with our policyholders. We were creating a California company for lawyers, directed by California lawyers. If you contacted LMIC, you could speak directly with an officer of the company… and that remains true today. We also offered superior loss prevention and continuing legal education to our members long before MCLE became a mandatory requirement of the State Bar. Most importantly, LMIC was here to stay. LMIC now provides over 80 hours of State Bar approved MCLE, which is always FREE to our policyholders.
The Test of Time
Eventually, the malpractice crisis passed. The number of claims leveled out, but under-priced liability carriers slowly began to creep back into the market. Again, California lawyers watched a new round of companies come and go, but this time LMIC was there. In 2017, LMIC celebrates its 39th consecutive year of insuring the states lawyers.
We are proud of those lawyers who saw the value of LMIC membership and the wisdom of starting….and sticking….with Lawyers’ Mutual.