According to this article in the New Jersey Law Journal, the question could be posed another way: How angry do clients have to get before attorneys [substitute ‘mediators’] must warn insurers a suit is possible?
In the ongoing litigation in General Star National Insurance Co. v. Law Offices of Robert A. Olkowitz, P.C., 07-5433, the insurance company asked a federal judge to rule it doesn't have to cover or defend its insured personal injury lawyer in a malpractice case because he didn’t notify the company when a client expressed displeasure with a settlement.
The attorney filed a motion to dismiss asking the judge to declare that a client’s expression of “displeasure” does not, as a matter of law, trigger the responsibility to put a malpractice carrier on notice.
Hmmm!!! Something for mediators to think about. The article is well worth reading!
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