Will Graebe

Happiness is a hot topic in the self-help world. There are more than 20,000 books that have been published with “happiness” in the title. An entire industry has been built around the goal of happiness. But do we even know what we mean when we say we want to be happy, and should it be our ultimate goal? I would suggest that there is something far greater than simple happiness. That something is the concept of well-being.   Read More

Recent bank failures have caused concerns for lawyers holding client funds in their trust accounts. Many of our insureds have contacted Lawyers Mutual to ask questions about their ethical and malpractice exposure and any steps that they can take to protect themselves and their clients.  Read More

There exists in the legal profession an unrealistic expectation of perfection. I say unrealistic because I have not yet met a lawyer who has not made a mistake at some point in his or her career. The best lawyers make mistakes. If you practice long enough, you will make a mistake. This does not mean that you ar… Read More

If you practice law long enough, you are bound to make a mistake while representing a client. Some mistakes are harmless and immaterial. Other mistakes may be fatal to your client’s case. In between those two extremes are mistakes that cause your client to suffer some negative consequences or create the possibility of negative consequences in the future. What is required of you when you make a mistake depends on the nature and severity of the error. Failure to make appropriate and timely disclosure of errors can result in adverse disciplinary, malpractice and coverage consequences.   Read More

What do you think is the number one complaint clients have about their lawyers? It is not lack of knowledge or competence. It is not even dissatisfaction with the outcome of a matter or the cost to the client.  A BTI Consulting Group Survey indicates that failure to keep a client adequately informed is far and above the number one complaint clients have.   Read More

My millennial children like to give me a hard time for not using all the features that my new I-phone offers. I talk, text, e-mail, take pictures, search the internet, and even ask Siri for directions. But did you know you can use your iPhone as a tape measurer or set different vibrations or tones for different callers. Read More

We have all heard the saying, “Don’t bury your head in the sand.”  It was once believed that ostriches buried their heads in the sand to avoid predators. The theory was that ostriches were so simple-minded that they thought that, if they couldn’t see their predators, then their pred… Read More

I recently listened to Mark Manson’s new bestselling book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k. Sure, it’s another self-help book among the seemingly endless number of books that tell us how we can live happy and rewarding lives. But Manson actually has some pretty good insights. One of those is what… Read More

Forty years ago, one of our insureds called to report Lawyers Mutual’s very first claim. Legend has it that the claim involved a wrap-around mortgage, and the claim eventually made it all the way to the Court of Appeals. I suspect that first claim was set up on either a manual or an electric typewriter an… Read More

A reminder about the estate portability clause in the 2012 Taxpayer Relief Act Read More

Seems like it was just  yesterday that the 2012 Taxpayer Relief Act was passed. I was recently reminded at the Estate Planning Section meeting in Kiawah of the malpractice risks posed by the new portability provisions in the Act. So I thought it would be a good idea to remind our insureds that portability… Read More

The 2012 calendar year results for claims exceeded our expectations. With continued declining frequency since 2010 and another year of very favorable development on prior years’ claims, Lawyers Mutual was once again able to achieve an underwriting profit. Claim counts were down in almost every practice ar… Read More

A look back at the claims we received in 2012 Read More

If you have been to a Lawyers Mutual seminar, then you have heard someone say something about our extensive claims repair program and the importance of early reporting. We are the proverbial broken record on this message. We’re kind of like the dentist who tells you to floss every time you see him. Like … Read More

The rise of the Interest has brought with it a concurrent rise in email and online scams. Some of these target lawyers. Be on the lookout for them. In one scam Lawyers Mutual learned about, the scammer used a real lawyer as the first point of contact. In this case, the North Carolina lawyer received an e-mail … Read More