Professional indemnity meaning

ARCHIVED: This checklist has been archived and is not maintained. Insured party name Name Prospective claimant name Name Policy reference Policy number Policy term Policy period Earlier policies Previous policies Date of notification Date Is the person or entity making the notice on the policy schedule, or in the proposal?...

This Checklist outlines the principal contractual points within a bundle of construction documents that a construction lawyer should review and report on for a prospective buyer of a property or development. It should be read alongside: Construction due diligence for property purchase-initial review of construction package-checklist. After reviewing the documents and raising enquiries, the purchaser’s construction lawyer will also need to produce a report on the construction documents, see Precedent: Report on construction documentation. The issues below proceed on the basis that construction at the relevant property has been completed. Accordingly, there is no need to scrutinise terms governing the running of the contract during the build, such as payment provisions; these are only relevant where a buyer is acquiring while works are ongoing and step-in rights are being offered. Building contracts Identity of contractor – Confirm the contractor continues to exist and carry out a financial check (for example via Dun & Bradstreet) to ensure it is financially sound. Date of contract –...

For law firms For law firms, whether you are considering a merger, taking over another practice, disposing of the business or winding it up, the successor practice provisions are almost invariably engaged in such scenarios. You must give careful thought to these rules and their effect on the deal, at every stage, as outcomes are frequently truly surprising, costly and, in the end, can pose intolerable risks for either party or, indeed, both. Grasping the ramifications of your proposals is essential. When the parties collaborate, it is often feasible to reduce exposures enough and in good time to allow a deal to move forward that might otherwise collapse. As ever, knowledge is power. Seldom will buying any element of a legal practice not result in the purchaser becoming a successor practice—you are generally safest to presume that is so. Section 1 aims to outline circumstances in which a successor practice is liable to arise. If you think your arrangement can sidestep creating a successor practice, for example by taking...

The survey gathered input from 14 of the 28 insurers listed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for the 2024 indemnity year. Conducted anonymously via Qualtrics and in partnership with the International Underwriting Association, it found that 38% of respondents foresaw potential difficulties at renewal, although the exact tally was not provided. Browne Jacobson reported that solicitors began considering leaving the PII market after the Court of Appeal’s January 2024 decision in Discovery Land Co LLC and others v Axis Specialty Europe SE. The firm noted that the ruling heightened worries about tightly drawn aggregation of claims under the SRA’s minimum terms and conditions, which influence the limit of indemnity. Ed Anderson, a partner at Browne Jacobson who deals with PII, ...

PI & Clinical Negligence weekly highlights—15 February 2024 In this issue: Road traffic accidents Clinical negligence Costs Court and the legal profession Other PI and clinical negligence news Daily and weekly news alerts Useful information New Q&As Road traffic accidents Pure economic loss and remoteness In Armstead v Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company Ltd [2024] UKSC 6, the Supreme Court held that a bailee’s possessory interest in goods is sufficient to found a claim against a third party whose negligence damages those goods. The appeal succeeded: a car-hirer was entitled to sue the negligent third party in tort to recover the contractual daily loss-of-use sum owed to the vehicle owner (the bailor, hire company) arising from the damage. The court also issued succinct guidance on core principles governing negligence claims for harm to tangible property, and on the limits of remoteness. Further, the Supreme Court confirmed that once a claimant has shown that...

Justice Stephen Males in the Court of Appeal held that the claim that Marsh failed to secure appropriate motor insurance for vehicles hired overseas by Norman Hay plc staff and group companies could not be summarily rejected. The judgment observes: for a court to assess whether a breach of duty caused loss, it must be told what, specifically, the defendant ought to have done. Males J indicated that further detail is required about the brief given to Marsh, the obligations it assumed, and whether a competent broker in Marsh’s position should have offered different advice on the availability of non-owned motor cover. Norman Hay contends that Marsh, whether negligently or in breach of contract, failed to appreciate that the chemical group’s senior employees needed adequate liability insurance when travelling on business abroad...

The SRA Standards and Regulations allow law firms and legal service providers to organise their businesses in several formats, depending on whether they deliver reserved legal activities. Options comprise: a single SRA-regulated entity delivering both reserved and non‑reserved services an SRA‑regulated entity delivering reserved legal services, with some or all non‑reserved work carried out by a separate, non‑SRA regulated business (which, importantly, may employ SRA‑regulated solicitors) a non‑SRA regulated entity supplying only non‑reserved legal services, employing SRA‑regulated solicitors a freelance solicitor—see Practice Note: Dealing with freelance solicitors This Practice Note offers guidance to law firms on running a separate business, including allocating parts of a client matter between the law firm and the separate business, which will entail unbundling legal services. It reflects the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA 2007) and the SRA Standards and Regulations, together with separate business guidance issued by the SRA. Unless stated otherwise, references in the Practice Note to: ‘solicitor’ includes Registered European...

Heads of terms A business purchase (the target business) typically starts with settling the key commercial points—price, structure of the deal, due diligence steps, exclusivity provisions and timetable. These points are commonly negotiated by the parties themselves, or alongside their accountants and other professional advisers, and then set out in heads of terms, sometimes called a ‘letter of intent’ or ‘memorandum of understanding’. See Practice Note: Heads of terms—share and asset purchases. Where environmental risks are known or suspected, the heads of terms might cover: providing the buyer with any existing environmental report(s) a requirement for a reliance agreement or collateral warranty, giving the buyer the benefit of those report(s) a process allowing the buyer to undertake a phase 1 environmental audit or phase 2 ground investigations headline terms for an environmental indemnity or environmental insurance What happens during the preliminary phase?...

This Practice Note sets out advice for law firms on responding to client account fraud and outlines the applicable legal and regulatory duties. Client funds are inviolable and their careful stewardship is essential and paramount. What is client account fraud? A firm suffers client account fraud where money is unlawfully taken from its client account. Immediate steps to take Act swiftly to limit harm in the immediate aftermath of client account fraud. Do everything possible to prevent further loss and disruption promptly. Form a fraud response team and appoint someone to lead the incident without delay; suitable choices include: the compliance officer for finance and administration (COFA) the finance director the compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) the nominated officer the senior partner another appropriately senior person within the firm The SRA warning notice, Money missing from client account, states that if you discover that funds are missing, you must take steps to ensure...

This Deed is entered into on the [ insert date ] day of [ insert month ] 20[ insert year ] Parties [ insert name ] (Company Number [ insert number ]) whose registered office is at [ insert address ] (the ‘Contractor’); [ and ] [ insert name ] (Company Number [ insert number ]) whose registered office is at [ insert address ] (the ‘Beneficiary’, which expression shall include successors in title and any permitted assignee) [ ; and OR . ] [ [ insert name ] (Company Number [ insert number ]) whose registered office is at [ insert address ] (the ‘Employer’). ] WHEREAS (A) [ [ insert name ] (Company Number [ insert number ]) whose registered office is at [ insert address ] (the ‘Employer’) OR The Employer ] has entered into a building contract dated [ insert date ] with the Contractor (the ‘Building Contract’) for the [ design and ] construction of...

This Deed of dissolution is entered into on [ insert date ] Parties Each individual whose name and address appear in Schedule 1 (each a Partner and, collectively, the Partners named therein). Background: The Partners have conducted and managed the Business in partnership in accordance with the terms of the Partnership Agreement. The Partners intend to dissolve and wind up the Partnership [ as contemplated by clause [ insert clause number ] of the Partnership Agreement ] on the basis set out in this deed. AGREED TERMS: 1 Definitions and interpretation 1.1 Except where expressly stated otherwise in this deed, the definitions and rules of interpretation in the Partnership Agreement shall govern...

1 Introduction 1.1 Our goal is to deliver outstanding service to our clients. Despite our best endeavours, mistakes may on occasion occur. So far as possible, we nurture a culture without blame—any of us can make an error. 1.2 This policy describes our procedures for managing acts or omissions that may give rise to a negligence claim. 1.3 This policy applies to everyone working at any level, including partners, consultants, solicitors, and other employees (whether permanent, fixed-term or temporary), together with contractors, trainees, seconded staff, home-workers, casual staff, agency staff, interns and students, agents, sponsors, volunteers, or any other person connected with the firm wherever they are located (collectively referred to as ‘staff’ in this policy). 2 Responsibility for handling claims against the firm 2.1 [ Insert name of person nominated to receive internal claim/circumstance report forms ] is responsible for dealing with: 2.1.1 acts or omissions that might result in a negligence claim against us; 2.1.2 actual negligence claims against...