Associate Liability Forum

[Anonymous User]

I am a senior associate at the NY office of a V20 firm. I have been working on a project with almost no partner support, and it has taken a negative turn. The matter is small for my firm—maybe $2-3 million of potential exposure (which is the reason the partner has not been involved much)—but it would be a life ruining event if I were personally sued for that amount or even a fraction of it.

Do clients ever sue senior associates for malpractice, and if so, what protections are typical for the firm to provide? This matter has been so difficult on me that I am planning on leaving my firm (and probably law altogether)—what do biglaw firms do to protect associates after they leave in terms of indemnification etc? Other than this matter I’m in good standing and I’m not out the door yet, so it’s kind of awkward to be asking partners or HR “hey... I get indemnified by the firm for any work I did after I leave, right?”

Any insight appreciated.

[Lacepiece23]

I really don’t have much experience. But I do have a thought. Would the client really name you over the firm personally? It’s not like you have the money they seek.

And even if they do name you, I bet you’re indemnified. This happens all the time with supervisors in employment suits. It’s not like they ever have to pay.

But, again, I have zero experience in this area. Might be worth it to contact a malpractice attorney and buy an hour of time, if you’re this worried.

[DCFinGuy]

Do you not have access to the malpractice insurance policy the firm carries on your behalf? I suspect it would give you a great deal of insight into what you are looking for, particularly tail coverage should you leave in the near-term.

[whats an updog]

I really don’t have much experience. But I do have a thought. Would the client really name you over the firm personally? It’s not like you have the money they seek.

And even if they do name you, I bet you’re indemnified. This happens all the time with supervisors in employment suits. It’s not like they ever have to pay.

But, again, I have zero experience in this area. Might be worth it to contact a malpractice attorney and buy an hour of time, if you’re this worried.

This is my gut reaction too. I think a malpractice attorney is probably not needed, but as the person above suggests, you can't really put a price on peace of mind.

I think this is a situation where I am sure you are feeling extremely stressed out and think you are objectively evaluating your own fault/risk -- but you may not be. I think you need to take a deep breath and see what happens here. If it becomes apparent that someone is going to sue you for malpractice then you go to the firm and do what you can. I am sure that in the practice of big law there are so many fuck ups that amount to nothing. And even if you did fuck it up, the partners or whoever is the person who brought in the work is ultimately the responsible party. They should have been checking off and they didnt because they were too busy or whatever? Fuck that, the buck shouldn't stop at an associate unless you were committing fraud.

I have no experience in the field though.

[ChickenSalad]

I am a senior associate at the NY office of a V20 firm. I have been working on a project with almost no partner support, and it has taken a negative turn. The matter is small for my firm—maybe $2-3 million of potential exposure (which is the reason the partner has not been involved much)—but it would be a life ruining event if I were personally sued for that amount or even a fraction of it.

Do clients ever sue senior associates for malpractice, and if so, what protections are typical for the firm to provide? This matter has been so difficult on me that I am planning on leaving my firm (and probably law altogether)—what do biglaw firms do to protect associates after they leave in terms of indemnification etc? Other than this matter I’m in good standing and I’m not out the door yet, so it’s kind of awkward to be asking partners or HR “hey... I get indemnified by the firm for any work I did after I leave, right?”

Any insight appreciated.

This is probably something that your firm’s malpractice insurance addresses. I am just guessing here so take this with a grain of salt but I’d think carefully before quitting if this project is ongoing.

I’d make sure the firm’s GC is up to speed on the potential lawsuit so he or she is in the loop and can help manage. It also might be sorted out before litigation

[Anonymous User]

I am a senior associate at the NY office of a V20 firm. I have been working on a project with almost no partner support, and it has taken a negative turn. The matter is small for my firm—maybe $2-3 million of potential exposure (which is the reason the partner has not been involved much)—but it would be a life ruining event if I were personally sued for that amount or even a fraction of it.

Do clients ever sue senior associates for malpractice, and if so, what protections are typical for the firm to provide? This matter has been so difficult on me that I am planning on leaving my firm (and probably law altogether)—what do biglaw firms do to protect associates after they leave in terms of indemnification etc? Other than this matter I’m in good standing and I’m not out the door yet, so it’s kind of awkward to be asking partners or HR “hey... I get indemnified by the firm for any work I did after I leave, right?”

Any insight appreciated.

This is probably something that your firm’s malpractice insurance addresses. I am just guessing here so take this with a grain of salt but I’d think carefully before quitting if this project is ongoing.

I’d make sure the firm’s GC is up to speed on the potential lawsuit so he or she is in the loop and can help manage. It also might be sorted out before litigation

OP here: obviously I can’t go into too much detail, but any negative effects from any advice I’ve given would be 1+ years from now. Staying until they negative effects occur would likely not be an option. I’ve made the partner and client I’m working with aware of the issues at this point.

Maybe I just need to talk to a professional responsibility lawyer on this. My firm has never spoken to us about what protections and liabilities we have as associates, and I’ve never lateralled, so I don’t know whether you get clarity on professional liability coverage/firm indemnification before you leave. Just feels so unfair that I have to do that after basically being hung out to dry by the partner who has been the one collecting fees on this matter to this point.

[Anonymous User]

There is a 99.9999 percent chance you are covered by your firm's malpractice insurance, even after you leave employment. Employees of the firm, as a class, are probably named as additional insureds in the policy. It would be insane if associates could be sued in their personal capacity for malpractice and not be covered by insurance.

[Anonymous User]

There is a 99.9999 percent chance you are covered by your firm's malpractice insurance, even after you leave employment. Employees of the firm, as a class, are probably named as additional insureds in the policy. It would be insane if associates could be sued in their personal capacity for malpractice and not be covered by insurance.

OP again—I hope you’re right and that I would be covered if worse came to worse. I don’t know how associates get access to the firm’s policy though (not something HR tells us about), and I’m worried that the deductible is going to be like $5 million dollars because my firm is pretty big.

[sms18]

Not an expert by all means, but wouldn't it be the case that, unless you actually committed fraud (in which case you may then be personally held liable), the client's only recourse is to make a claim against the law firm itself, in which case it is the limited liability partnership that may have to compensate the client (if at all). Maybe check your firm's standard engagement letter to see if this is something that's addressed there.

[RaceJudicata]

You are almost certainly covered by the firm’s malpractice insurance (so long as you aren’t committing fraud/crime etc). In my state we have to certify malpractice coverage to state bar, and we use the firm’s information.