Call for national cap on lawyers' liability
Chris Merritt, Legal editor
28/03/2003
The push by the professions for a national system of capped liability gained impetus yesterday when one of the biggest insurers of the nation's lawyers released claims data supporting assertions that a capping system would have few adverse consequences for consumers of legal services.
Victoria's Legal Practitioners Liability Committee, which insures 12,500 solicitors, released the data ahead of next Friday's summit of insurance ministers which will consider calls for the national extension of the state-based systems of capped liability for the professions.
The liability committee's data shows that if Victoria had implemented a capping system for solicitors that matched the NSW scheme, the cap would have led
to reduced payouts in just two of
the 8000 cases on its files over the last 17 years.
This is in line with claims data that was released this month by the other big insurer of the nation's solicitors, LawCover Pty Ltd in NSW, showing that just 20 claims in 15 years had resulted in payouts greater than the $1.5 million cap.
In NSW, this was the equivalent of less than 1 per cent of all claims paid each year, according to LawCover.
While the data suggests that the proposed cap would affect few claims against lawyers, the Law Council of Australia and Professions Australia have both urged the federal government to improve the effectiveness of the capping schemes by closing a loophole that does allow plaintiffs to seek unlimited damages under the Trade Practices Act.