N.C. Trial Lawyers Seek Malpractice Cap

North Carolina trial attorneys are upset with rising legal malpractice insurance rates and want lawmakers to act.

The North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers wants lawmakers to place a cap on the awards that plaintiffs can receive in legal malpractice cases.

Insurance rates for law firms have “crossed the legal threshold,” according to Sue Alotte, president of the trial lawyers group, which has also asked Insurance Commissioner Wayne Wingood to investigate the profits of Lawyers Malpractice Insurance Co., the chief underwriter of law firms in the state.

Alotte said the number of lawsuits against lawyers and the average award in legal malpractice cases have skyrocketed but that is no excuse for insurers to hike premiums. “Lawyers are only a little, not a lot, more incompetent than they used to be,” said Alotte. “Yet rates are going through the roof. Why?”

Alotte said the trial lawyers are ready to donate millions to lawmakers if that’s what it takes to stop the rate hikes.