Our Professional Liability Department is comprised of attorneys located throughout all of our office locations. Either by way of direct engagement or through the engagement by the professional's insurance carrier, our Department represents, among others, accountants, architects, attorneys, bankers, computer and media professionals, engineers, financial planners, healthcare providers, insurance brokers and agents, property appraisers and inspectors, real estate brokers and agents, and securities brokers in defending claims arising from performance of their professional duties.
Members of our Professional Liability Department are experienced in handling litigation in both State and Federal Courts through trial and on appeal. Our attorneys are licensed to practice in multiple State and Federal jurisdictions and also represent professionals in administrative proceedings before the N.A.S.D. and many different State agencies.
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith is engaged in representing clients across multiple practice areas. Where appropriate, members of our Department work with attorneys from other practice areas within the Firm to provide legal representation of the highest quality to a broad range of professionals. No other law firm in the United States has successfully defended members of as many, or as varied, professional occupations than have been represented by Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith since its inception.
The Firm represents accountants practicing as sole practitioners, in small partnerships, or in large accounting firms. We are well qualified to efficiently handle the representation of such professionals on a wide range of legal issues which might arise in connection with compilations, audits, projections, tax return preparation, tax planning and management information services, business and personal financial management, expert testimony and investment advice. Members of our department include attorneys who have practiced themselves as accountants, tax preparers, tax consultants and tax attorneys. We have defended accountants for more than two decades, with significant trial experience.
We have a depth of experience as to the standard of care applicable in the broad range of practice areas of our clients. Given our background and experience in a wide spectrum of areas in which our clients, themselves, practice, this combination has given the Firm a premier reputation in the defense of accountants.
Since its founding, our firm has successfully defended thousands of lawyers, as well as the Firms in which they practice, ranging from sole practitioners to some of the largest law firms in the country. The underlying legal problems involved in these cases include personal injury, commercial litigation, divorce and family law, patent litigation, real estate, tax, probate, bankruptcy, products liability, criminal law and malicious prosecution. Many of these cases involved multi-million dollar claims in either state or federal courts.
The development and implementation of an effective defense for legal malpractice claims depends heavily on the underlying area of law. Within our firm, we have attorneys who specialize in tax law, intellectual property and patent litigation, bankruptcy, products liability, environmental law and toxic torts, employment and labor law, workers’ compensation, maritime law, entertainment, and corporate law. Our size and depth of practice provides our firm with access to knowledgeable practitioners in numerous practice areas, enabling us to efficiently analyze a claim and pursue the most expeditious defense strategy, often without having to first retain outside experts or consultants.
In representing lawyers accused of legal malpractice, we have worked for every major underwriter of legal malpractice insurance policies, and we are the counsel of choice for many self-insured law firms. We have also represented attorneys in disciplinary proceedings brought by state licensing agencies.
Real estate transactions present a virtual minefield of potential claims against a wide range of real estate professionals. For over 20 years, our firm has successfully defended thousands of real estate professionals on every aspect of residential and commercial transactions, including real estate agents and brokers, escrow officers, title companies, appraisers, home inspectors, leasing agents and mortgage brokers.
We have extensive experience in handling the defense of claims for professional negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation and fraud based on alleged faulty preparation of sales documents, failure to follow escrow instructions, negligent appraisals, and the failure to properly inspect property and to disclose defects. We provide seminars on recent appellate decisions affecting real estate agent and broker liability, as well as loss prevention techniques.
We also represent clients in all aspects of the real estate industry including developers, owners, managers, buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants, contractors, subcontractors and brokers. The Firm prides itself in providing a high quality of representation to its real estate professional clients.
Our attorneys are experienced in representing architects, engineers, surveyors and environmental consultants. Allegations against design and environmental professionals, when asserted in the context of larger construction defect matters, are often difficult to litigate. Professional claims against design and environmental professionals should be handled differently from claims against various subcontractors, as the issues and applicable legal standards are generally very different. This is the focus of our litigation efforts in larger multi-party litigation. We have been successful in enforcing limitation of liability provisions, obtaining dismissals on favorable terms, and in utilizing claims for unpaid fees to successfully alter the settlement position of the other side. We have also defended individual companies and design professionals in two-party claims as well.
Our experience enables us to communicate with our clients regarding plans, designs, specifications and details. Our ability to comprehend complex design issues and address them in a manner approved of by our clients has earned us the trust of many larger design firms and their insurance companies. Our litigation on behalf of our design professional and environmental clients generally involves a close working relationship, as it is important that the technical issues not be overlooked, and that any claims be viewed in the context of the construction and business activities at the time of the design.
We are also able to advise regarding potential work, or contractual issues, in a transactional capacity. We have performed contract review and analyzed various provisions of contracts for many of our clients.
Insurance agents and brokers work today in an increasingly treacherous environment. With the availability of even fairly sophisticated coverages over the internet, combined with an increasingly diverse array of potential exposures and available coverages to meet these exposures, insurance agents and brokers are compelled to sell themselves as having specialized knowledge. The public, as well as the courts, are expecting them to provide special expertise as well.
As a result, insurance agent and broker errors and omissions claims continue to grow in number and in complexity. We are particularly well prepared to meet the challenges faced by the new environment presented for insurance agents and brokers. We have lawyers who are experts in this field, who have written and lectured on the topic of insurance agent and broker E&O, and who consistently achieve outstanding results in defending agents and brokers in a variety of claims. We provide an aggressive defense, often disposing of cases at the pleading stage or on summary disposition. We are highly qualified and experienced in taking cases through verdict and on appeal.
The key to our success in representing insurance agents and brokers is our understanding of the various defenses available to them. We have extensive experience and understanding of how insurance works, how it is marketed and how it is sold, as well as how to identify and understand coverage issues. This experience gives us a tremendous advantage in representing our insurance agent and broker clients.
We represent a wide range of clientele from individual brokers to large managing general agents involved in the procurement of specialty or surplus lines insurance coverage throughout the world. We are attuned to the most recent, cutting edge issues for insurance brokers and agents, including legal issues arising from ERISA plans, group health plans, and offshore carriers. Our firm is an acknowledged leader in representing the interests of individual insurance agents and brokers (whether acting in the capacity of retail brokers of wholesale brokers), surplus lines brokers, specialty line brokers, general agents, managing general agents and third-party administrators regarding virtually all types of insurance including property and casualty, professional errors and omissions, directors and officers, life and disability, individual and group health coverage and ERISA plans.
The Firm has represented a number of computer-related businesses in defense of a range of errors and omissions claims arising from claimed errors in programming, data input and hardware and software recommendations.
Securities brokers can and do find themselves confronted with claims involving more than simple negligence. Whether as to such claims, or more challenging claims of churning, procuring unsuitable or underperforming investments, fraud or failing to properly and adequately supervise registered representatives, we have provided knowledgeable, quality representation to members of the profession.
Because contracts between securities brokers and their customers typically contain an arbitration clause, discovery in defense of such claims is often limited. This places a premium on knowledgeable investigative efforts to learn as much as possible about the customer to prepare a defense at arbitration. We have extensive experience in arbitrating customer claims, with an understanding of the legal issues, rules and guidelines involved.
Members of our department have represented securities brokers and broker-dealers in connection with errors and omissions claims made by investors in NASD/NYSE arbitration proceedings as well as in federal and state courts. We also handle the defense of class action securities fraud cases. Our experience and expertise in these, and related matters, sets our firm apart from others in the representation of securities brokers and broker-dealers as to all such matters.
Our firm has both experience and expertise in representing municipalities, school districts and their employees in claims covered under errors and omissions coverages tailored to their needs. Such claims run the gamut from the simplest negligence claim of a public employee involved in an automobile accident, to more sophisticated, complex claims under Section 1983, concerning alleged violations of Constitutional rights including discrimination claims based upon age, race and gender.
We have extensive experience in designing defense strategies to successfully defend such claims. From identifying possible pleading defects early on in litigation leading to prompt dismissals, recognizing legal and factual issues necessary to craft investigative and discovery strategies designed for summary adjudication by the courts, or effective trial defenses before juries, our firm has historically provided the highest quality representation to municipalities and school districts beset by claims and litigation of all types.
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Beyond members of the various professions discussed above, the Firm is frequently called upon to undertake the representation of a wide variety of individuals and companies insured under terms of miscellaneous professional liability policies. These have included professionals of diverse backgrounds such as professional conservators, home health care providers, insurance consultants, ERISA plan consultants, private and public university officials, travel agents and others. The Firm's experience in representing a broad range of professionals has made the representation of such miscellaneous professional liability claims something that we take pride in.
In the event the need for the representation arises, we hope that you will consider calling upon us.