Precious Resources

People. Service. Peace of Mind.

Photo: FRENCH BROAD RIVER, ASHEVILLE

A Time for Reflection

North Carolina is blessed with an abundance of scenic rivers, lakes, and beaches. These precious resources are part of our inheritance.

In 2022, despite ongoing social and economic stressors, Lawyers Mutual continued to deliver strong results. That is also part of our inheritance.

Just as our waterways nourish our state, our policyholders keep Lawyers Mutual going – and flowing.

Water is a reflection of the soul.

— Leonardo da Vinci
Photo: albermarle sound, edenton

A Message from the President

Despite the chaotic equity markets and inflationary challenges, we are pleased to report that we enjoyed a strong financial year ...

… further enhancing our already strong capital position.

… again declaring a policyholder dividend of approximately $1 million.

… returning nearly $12.3 million to our policyholder by way of dividends since 2011.

Read More

Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.

— Lao Tzu
Photo: Looking Glass Falls, Brevard, NC

Highlights

In 2022, Lawyers Mutual added a Relationship Manager/Claims Counsel to its in-house legal team with the return of Will Graebe.

“While a lot has changed since Lawyers Mutual was founded in 1978, one thing that hasn’t changed is the importance of our relationships with our insureds. My goal is to make sure we are meeting their needs and providing exceptional service.”

READ MORE FROM WILL GRAEBE

Individually we are a single drop. Together we are an ocean.

— Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Photo: wrightsville beach, nc

Highlights

Lawyers Mutual also began offering insureds specialized law practice management and technology services by engaging Erik Mazzone, LM Practice Management Consultant.

“Lawyers Mutual is one of North Carolina’s great legal institutions, and I am honored to partner with them to provide practice management and legal technology education to help insureds build and grow their practices.”

LEARN MORE ABOUT LPM SERVICES

We may feel what we are doing is but a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less without that missing drop.

- Mother Teresa
Photo: kure beach, nc

Sustaining

Underwriting Department

  • Policyholder retention rate of 90.5 percent
  • Direct written premium of $18.83M – up from $18.6M in 2021
  • 3,380 policies in force
  • 65 percent of policies are sole practitioners
  • 179 new policies written
SEE UNDERWRITING SUMMARY

When I sit by the water, I am free.

— Henry David Thoreau
65%of policies are solo practioners
Photo: pamlico sound, nc

Protecting

Claims Department

  • 9% reduction in new claims
  • 8% decrease in active, open claims
  • 74% of active claims closed with no loss payment
  • Pre-suit assistance, subpoena assistance, and disciplinary assistance to insureds
  • 39% of claims were in Litigation – Plaintiff PI matters
DOWNLOAD CLAIMS CHARTS

Water is the soul of the earth.

— W.H. Auden
Photo: merchant mill pond, gatesville

Connecting

Client Services Department

  • Return to in-person 3-hour CLE seminars
  • Record paralegal/staff attendance at CLEs
  • Monthly “Put Into Practice” newsletter
  • Quarterly “Common Errors” content
  • More than 150 original, topical posts on Byte of Prevention Blog
  • Risk Management E-Alerts on emerging threats
  • In-firm presentations on professionalism and ethics
VISIT OUR BYTE OF PREVENTION BLOG

It is always ourselves that we find in the sea.

— e.e. cummings
Photo: outerbanks, nc

Ebb and Flow

Enterprise and Operational Risk Management

  • System vulnerability and penetration testing process
  • Cybersecurity risk assessment and heatmap monitoring
CYBER SECURITY TIPS

Water is the driving force of all nature.

- Leonardo da Vinci
Photo: kure beach, nc

Financials

  • Lawyers Mutual continues to be a strong financial position despite uncertainites in the market
  • The Company recorded a 1.10% increase to surplus in 2022 which is a $1.1m increase in surplus
  • The Company’s financial results in 2022 and strong surplus position allowed the declaration of a policyholder dividend, 5.3% of the final premium paid on 2022 policies
  • Pre-suit assistance, subpoena assistance, and disciplinary assistance to insureds
  • 39% of claims were in Litigation – Plaintiff PI matters
DOWNLOAD FINANCIALS
Photo: Upper Catabwa Falls, old fort

Subsidiary Highlights

Lawyers Insurance Agency
  • 99% Health Plan retention at renewal
  • Membership increase in Health Plan to all-time high of 9,000 insured lives
  • 6.3% growth in other lines
  • Strong growth in Court Bond Program
  • LIA investment account created
LM Consulting & Services
  • Leading Law Community membership exceeded 300
  • Leading Law Roundtable monthly
  • Launched LMCS Press
  • Co-authored and published Respect: An Insight to Attorney Compensation Plans
  • Outside speaking engagements, eBooks, content placed in outside publications
LM Title
  • Title Commitment count increased by 8.5%
  • Increase in net profit
  • Part-time marketer added
  • “Parapalooza” programs for real estate support staff
  • Online CLEs with emphasis on technology in real estate practices
  • Final titles produced within one week of receipt (industry-leading standard)
Photo: bonner bridge pier
DOWNLOAD FINANCIALS DOWNLOAD ANNUAL REPORT PDF
Photo: emerald isle, courtesy Visit nc
Previous Next

Valued Policyholders,

Despite the chaotic equity markets in 2022 and inflationary challenges, we are pleased to report that we enjoyed a strong financial year, further enhancing our already strong capital position, and again declaring a policyholder dividend of approximately $1 million. By the end of 2023, we will have returned nearly $12.3 million to policyholders in the form of dividends since 2011. One of our continuing goals is to return as much capital via policyholder dividends as is financially prudent. Being able to participate in dividends is one of the major benefits of being insured with a mutual company. The capital strength of your professional liability insurance carrier and its policyholder dividend history are incredibly important, especially during times of economic uncertainty like those we now face.

Rather than going into more detail on our financials, which you will find later in this report, I’d like to update you on the efforts we’ve undertaken to add policyholder value.(Adding value is also an ongoing goal.) Beginning August of 2022, we partnered with Erik Mazzone, founding Director of the Center for Practice Management at the North Carolina Bar Association, to bolster our law practice management resources and capabilities. In addition to the foregoing, Erik offers three hours of law practice management consulting at no charge to our insureds. We also began building an on-demand continuing legal education library that will soon be available to insureds – probably before you read this letter. At the time of writing, there are 13 programs in the library, mostly covering real estate practice and cybersecurity issues. New content covering other practice areas and risk and law practice management will be added on an ongoing basis. Finally, we’ve been developing an insured portal and mobile application to provide you with easy access to quotes, invoices, payments, policy information and documents, and the ability to request policy changes.

We sincerely hope that you find value in these additional services and offerings. Of course, we always appreciate your suggestions, whether on additional products or services or things we can do better or differently.

On behalf of everyone at Lawyers Mutual, we offer our sincere appreciation for your continuing loyalty, support, and trust. Thank you for your business.

Dan Zureich

2022 Annual Report

Download Annual Report PDF