CNA Hosts Risk Management Roundtable for Law Firms

NEW YORK, June 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CNA hosted a roundtable panel yesterday in New York to address the emerging risks facing law firms.

"CNA is a leading professional liability insurer of law firms in the United States, with 50 years of experience providing insurance solutions and risk management services to attorneys," said Jim Romanelli, CNA's Northeastern Zone Officer during his welcoming remarks. "CNA events like this roundtable help our policyholders manage and mitigate exposures they encounter in their practices."

The roundtable began with a discussion of significant claim trends for law firms, such as the expansion of claims by non-clients of the law firm, claims involving allegations of conflicts of interest, fraud and misrepresentation, and claims arising from the Trusts & Estates practice area. 

In a discussion led by CNA Claims and Risk Control, a diverse group of law firm personnel, comprised of general counsels loss prevention partners, conflicts attorneys, and information technology directors, shared their professional experience with respect to effectively managing the client intake process and handling conflicts of interest at their respective law firms. 

Participants also heard directly from the general counsel of three prominent law firms on mitigating risk in several key areas: managing the lateral hiring process, compliance with outside counsel guidelines and maintaining law firm data security. 

"Identifying and managing the risks associated with a successful lateral hire is a difficult exercise.  With lateral hiring continuing to outpace entry level-hiring, the risk is now commonplace in law firms.  Having general counsel from several prominent law firms lead the discussion about successful strategies to avoid these potential risks was invaluable," said Michael Barrett, Director of Risk Control, Professional Services, Lawyers.

The roundtable was sponsored by Intapp. "We know that to truly help law firms control risk, the new business intake, conflicts management and information security software we deliver must continuously evolve to address real-world priorities," said Kathryn Hume, Senior Risk Practice Specialist, Intapp. "We're proud to partner with CNA and support this event as part of our ongoing investment to stay abreast of industry risk trends and foster peer dialogue on response strategies."

For information on how to help mitigate exposures in your law firm, such as Taking Stock of a Potential Fee Collection Suit or Logistics of a Lateral Move Between Law Firms, visit www.LawyersInsurance.com.

The Northeastern Zone is one of CNA's six geographic zones and includes: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont; and includes offices in Boston, Hartford, Melville, New York City and Syracuse and Westchester.

Serving businesses and professionals since 1897, CNA is the country's eighth largest commercial insurance writer and the 13th largest property and casualty company. CNA's insurance products include standard commercial lines, specialty lines, surety, marine and other property and casualty coverages. CNA's services include risk management, information services, underwriting, risk control and claims administration.  Use of the term "partnership" and/or "partner" should not be construed to represent a legally binding partnership. For more information, please visit CNA at www.cna.com. "CNA" is a service mark registered by CNA Financial Corporation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Certain CNA Financial Corporation subsidiaries use the "CNA" service mark in connection with insurance underwriting and claims activities.

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About Intapp

Serving over 500 customers, including 89% of the AmLaw 100, Intapp provides software products and services that enable law firms to thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Intapp's risk practice group focuses on understanding existing pressures and emerging trends, and translating this knowledge into products and best practices.  As part of this investment, Intapp sponsors the Law Firm Risk Roundtable Program (www.RIskRoundtable.com) and the Law Firm Risk Management Blog (www.LawFirmRisk.com).  Intapp products are recognized as the most advanced new business intake and conflicts management and information security solutions for law firms. For more information, visit www.intapp.com.       

CONTACT:Jennifer Martinez, 312-822-5167Sarah Pang, 312-822-6394

SOURCE CNA