Richard Simpson Comments on Rise in Settlements of Legal Malpractice Claims

November 7, 2016

Richard A. Simpson, a partner in Wiley Rein’s Appellate and Insurance Practices, was quoted in a November 4 Law360 article regarding a reported trend that law firms are increasingly willing to settle malpractice claims before they go to trial. The data comes from a report by the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Profile of Legal Malpractice Claims, which shows a slight uptick in malpractice claims filed since 2011. In spite of the rise in malpractice claims going to court, many firms are opting to avoid the soaring cost of defending malpractice suits—and the reputational harm that a public court battle may inflict—by settling early.

“These days there is a lot more reporting on litigation, and sometimes if you can settle a case before a suit is ever filed and becomes public, that’s a good thing,” said Mr. Simpson, who is a member of the ABA committee that prepared the report. “No one wants to see their firm in an article as being sued for malpractice.”

To read the full article, please click here (subscription required).