Law Firm's Blog Makes It Uninsurable
from the what-are-these-crazy-things-called-blogs? dept
A New Jersey law firm has been told by its insurance carrier that publishing a blog on the firm's website makes it uninsurable. Basically, the concern is that anything posted on the blog could be construed as legal advice, and thus open up the firm to a lawsuit should a reader act on this "advice". Despite the possibility of something like this happening, the refusal to insure the company seems a bit odd. It's not clear why the carrier, Chubb, couldn't have just adjusted its model and charged the firm a higher price for the added risk. Also, as one person who sets up blogs for law firms points out, it doesn't make sense to view a blog as separate from other forms of public communications. Lawyers, for example, frequently give speeches to various groups, and one could imagine that that could be seen as advice as well. Furthermore, law blogs (of which there are many), typically have strong disclaimers, which can help inoculate the author against lawsuits. The only thing that makes sense is that Chubb just had no idea how to think of a blog, and so it decided to just give up on the whole deal. It's Chubb's loss, since the law firm should be able to find an insurance carrier that has underwritten policies at one of the many the other law firms that have blogs on their sites.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Typo
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
ha-ha!
as far as I'm concerned, this is the type of world the lawyers have been imposing on us for years...one where technicalities and stupid details prevent people form doing what makes sense. now, they get to feel the sting. chickens, home, roost.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I can easily see the law firm being sued over what is stated in the blog. It's not the law firm or insurance carrier being stupid, it's just a fault in the system.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Makes sense to me
I kind of side with the insurance company on this one. There are way to many stupid people in this country, I could see dozens of them following the advice on a blog and then suing the law firm when it doesn't work or they lose money by following that advice. It's a big risk, so I think the insurance company understands blogs more than you think.
Besides, lawyer blogging? Who would care to read that?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Makes sense to me
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Disclaimer
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Who reads lawyer blogging?
http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
How can you tell if a Lawyer is giving legal advic
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I wonder...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Awwww..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Awwww..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
sounds nice
Need them buddy !
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I find it hilarious.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
If someone can be charged by the bar for "practicing law without a license" even when they never claimed to be and clearly aren't (helping someone fill in the blanks of a will writing software program) then it should also cover legal advice whether there's a disclaimer or not.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Fission
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
s/Blog/Web-Content-Management-System/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
insurance
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
travel insurance
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Chubb did a 'never mind'
It's only those blogs where lawyers give specific advice by replying to comments on their blog in such a way that an lawyer-client releationship could be construed where Chubb would not cover the firm. Not suprising that no one has been able to find of those blogs.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Insurance
financial comparison web site, Credit world.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Manipulating Technorati Rankings
You might be interested in this series that examines how Technorati rankings can be manipulated:
On Getting Noticed -- Part I
[ link to this | view in chronology ]