While Lawyers Professional Liability policies do not have standard wording excluding attorney’s fees it is a common exclusion. Normally attorney’s fees are carved out in the definition of damages.
When examining the Lawyers Professional Liability Policy, this exclusion is not normally found in the exclusion section of the policy. Frequently you will find this in the definition of “damages” or what is a “claim expense”. The Medmarc Lawyers Professional Liability Policy is typical of how the “exclusion” is crafted in the definitions section of the policy:
“Damages means monetary judgments, awards, or settlements, but does not include (a) the return or restitution of legal fees, costs, and expenses charged by the Insured; (b) any client funds allegedly misappropriated, whether by an Insured or any other person, and whether intentionally or not, or interest thereon; or (c) fines, sanctions, penalties, punitive damages, exemplary damages, or any award resulting from the multiplication of compensatory damages, imposed against any Insured, any client of an Insured, or any other person or entity.”
It is important to put your insurance carrier on notice because the allegations might expand beyond just attorney’s fees. The reason for this is you could have your Lawyers Professional Liability Carrier state that you had “prior knowledge” of circumstances leading up to a claim and using a non report as basis for denying a malpractice claim at a later date.