Professional Liability Pros, LLC

04/20/2023

Nice event last night at the Suffolk County Colombian Lawyers Associations April meeting. Enjoyed the dinner and sitting next to Sean McGowen, President of the Suffolk County Colombian Lawyers Association.

03/28/2023

March 28, 2023

Founders Professional just became aware that beginning March 21, 2023 insureds of the Safe Law Cyber insurance program began receiving non-renewal notices in the mail for their cyber insurance policies. This is being done for all SafeLaw policies with effective dates post June 1, 2023.

SafeLaw is a cyber insurance program that was created to focus on providing coverage to the legal sector. SafeLaw is a specialized cyber risk program created by lawyers solely to protect law firms from cyber risks.

The non-renewal letters state that the reason for the non-renewals are that: Talbot Underwriting Limited (“Talbot”) has decided that it will no longer continue to underwrite cyber risk insurance for small to medium sized enterprises in the United States of America.

Please be advised that this non-renewal is based on a business decision by the company and is not intended to reflect negatively on your insurability.

You should contact your insurance producer concerning your options to secure coverage through another insurer.

At this time, the non-renewals are being done while SafeLaw searches for a new re-insurer for the program.

If your firm has received a notice, please feel free to contact our office, we will assist you in obtaining a quote. Our office number is 631-269-9696

08/31/2022

I am looking forward to attending the Suffolk County Women's Bar Association Annual Kickoff & Membership Drive Cocktail Party on September 21, 2022 from 6pm-9pm. Hope to see you there!

08/31/2022

Glad to be able to attend events again! This was the joint meeting between the LIHBA and Nassau County Bar Association. Thank you Honorable Linda K Mejias and Veronica Renta-Irwin. Looking forward to the upcoming events.

03/23/2021

This Newsletter from AttPro is very interesting and relatable. It discusses the burn out that Attorneys are going through from the last year having to deal with the Covid-19 issues. It also takes a look at addiction issues. We felt this was worth sharing and taking a look at. Please let me know if you can't access the link for any reason. Wishing you good health and a safe and prosperous year ahead.

02/24/2021

Best Practice Alert: Employee burnout during the pandemic

Employee burnout during the pandemic has organizations concerned about talent retention and employee turnover. Many workers may require accommodations to deal with mental health issues or personal matters associated with the pandemic.

Thirty-four percent of employees say they are more burned out now than they were last year, according to a survey conducted by staffing firm Robert Half. Women and employees between the ages of ages 25 to 40 reported the highest rates of burnout.

Another Robert Half survey found that nearly 88 percent of senior managers say they are concerned about retaining employees. Of the respondents who worry about retention, 47 percent said it is because of the heavy workloads employees manage and concerns that they are on the verge of burnout.

According to a division director for Robert Half and Accountemps, employers may be more willing to make accommodations to help employees deal with the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some employers are letting workers schedule blocks for personal matters during the workday. Others have increased the number of vacation days employees receive and encourage them to take days off. Stephanie Czekalinski "Workers are burning out; Now managers are stressing" cleveland19.com (Oct. 30, 2020); "Survey: 34% Of Workers Are More Burned Out Now Than A Year Ago" rh-us.mediaroom.com (Oct. 08, 2020).

Commentary

If an employee makes an accommodation request related to stress, whether caused by the COVID-19 pandemic or not, always promptly refer that request to those who are authorized in your organization to manage disability accommodation requests. Don’t downplay or ignore the situation.

If your organization implements a reasonable accommodation, your responsibility is to implement it; let your employee know that if the accommodation does not help, to check back with you and with those who engaged in the interactive process with them. Never retaliate against an employee for requesting or receiving an accommodation.
An article from Travelers Risk Management

10/16/2020

Join us for our first Cyber Security Webinar on October 21st at 1:30pm. This is a Zoom call. To Register, please click on this link https://www.myarchway.com/jlwebinar. We look forward to seeing you there!

LIVE WEBINAR Cyber Security Basics: What You Need To know to keep your company Cyber safe October 21st | 1:30pm Save My Seat While millions of people around the world are now working remotely due to the lockdown, it is not always safe due to a rise in cyber crimes. We believe it’s critical to your...

10/15/2020

The percentage of businesses with at least 40% of employees working remotely has more than doubled since the onset of the pandemic. Because of this, there is a significant increase of exposure to cybercrimes. We believe it’s critical to your practice to be prepared with both cyber insurance in addition to an effective cyber security plan to manage and mitigate cyber risk.

In partnership with our technology vendors; Archway Computer and Crum & Forster, we will be conducting several Zoom educational sessions over the next few months on Cyber Security planning, managing and mitigating risk.

Our first session will be held on October 21st at 1:30pm. We will be sending a registration link out for that session in a few days. We will advise you of the future dates.

Recently, cybercrime has increased exponentially. If you haven't noticed, state and federal agencies have developed cybercrime units and created new legislation to fight online crime. Here is some interesting information for you to think about;

In 2019, the cost of cybercrime reached over $2 trillion dollars. In 2020, the projected cost is going to reach 6 trillion dollars.

Cybercrime is wider spread than all the drug cartels in the world. According to the University of Maryland; Hackers attack every 39 seconds, on average 2,244 times a day.

The average cost per stolen record in America is $220 (that's just in initial damage) As an example, if you have 5000 compromised records it could cost you over a million dollars.

According to Keeper Security's “The State of SMB Cybersecurity” report, 50% of small and mid-sized businesses reported suffering at least one cyber-attack in the last 12 months.

At least five of our clients have been attacked by these cybercrimes in the last 10 months. The systems are very vulnerable since the sudden onset of remote access due to the Corona 19 Virus.

The average cost of a data breach involving theft of assets totaled $879,582 for small and mid-sized businesses. They spent another $955,429 to restore normal business in the wake of successful attacks.

Law firms handle a significant amount of client data, which they have a legal duty to protect thus making them highly attractive to cyber criminals.

Many law firms work with PI and real estate clients and/or wire funds as part of their business practice. In recent years an increasing percentage of these firms have become victims of eCrime, in particular, wire transfer schemes.

Cyber Liability Insurance can cover costs associated with a claim or suit related to a breach. The right coverage your business or organization needs depends on your level of risk. We can help you find Cyber insurance coverage that fits the financial and technical needs of your organization.

There are many reasons to consider a Cyber Policy, please give us the opportunity to discuss those reasons with you either via a phone call 631-269-9696 or email us.

Please join us for our upcoming educational series on Cyber Security, planning, managing and mitigating risk.

A registration link will follow.

Best Regards,

The Cyber Liability Team @
Professional Liability Pros

10/08/2020

Last month we saved a 2 attorney firm in Mineola 6% on their Lawyers Professional Liability. so far this month, we just saved a solo practiced 18% and it's only the end of the first week.

03/17/2020

With the Corona virus shutdown, businesses are at greater risk of cyber issues like hacking and ransomware attacks. With more employees working remotely from home, the lowered security of connections and networks provides great opportunities for hackers. Make sure you have cyber insurance in place!

03/16/2020

We have been fielding questions from commercial and professional clients asking if their Business Interruption offers coverage for lost income due to Corona. The answer is NO. For Business Interruption coverage to kick in, there usually has to be physical damage to some property from an covered peril. Infectious diseases are not a covered peril.

Some policies may offer liability coverage if you are sued for contributing to the spread of Corona, but there is no first party Business Interruption coverage.

12/11/2019

At last night's Suffolk County Women's Bar Association holiday party. This was one of 3 affinity bar groups holiday parties I've already been to, with 3 more yet to come.

It's hard work but someone has to do it.