(San Antonio) — After hours of debate and months of gathering information from Texas lawyers and the public, the State Bar Board of Directors, by a vote of 39 to 1, recommended to the Supreme Court of Texas that lawyers not be required to disclose whether or not they carry professional liability insurance unless a client or prospective client asks for that information. (In a June 2009 letter, the Court had asked the Board to make a recommendation on the issue by February 2010.)
In addition, the Board unanimously recommended that if disclosure were to be required, that it be done so through an administrative rule rather than a disciplinary rule.
The State Bar has compiled hundreds of pages of comments, reports, and background information to forward to the Court. In a transmittal letter to accompany those resources, the Board will respectfully ask the Court to seek the Board’s recommendation regarding the details of implementing any future disclosure requirement.
For more information on the professional liability insurance disclosure issue, including an executive summary and the results of public hearings, surveys, and focus groups, click here.