Robert B. Hille, a partner in the firm’s Healthcare and Litigation Departments, will be a panelist for a presentation on “How to Avoid Malpractice Risk by Being a Pro at Understanding Your Professional Liability Insurance” at the New Jersey State Bar Association’s 2024 Annual Meeting and Convention. The program is scheduled for Wednesday, May 15 from 3:45pm – 5:15pm at the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa in Atlantic City.

This seminar will first address understanding professional liability coverage for attorneys and law firms, including scope of coverage, what may be a claim, claims-made policies, responsibilities for providing notice, the significance of the timing of reporting a claim, etc. An overview of how to read a legal malpractice policy will be provided, highlighting certain key terms, conditions, definitions, and exclusions. Next, we will delve into several real life, “trending” scenarios or hypotheticals and discuss whether coverage would be provided. The topics to be discussed include the following: Misrepresentations on application or renewal application, the “innocent insured” clause; Cyber and AI Risks and Exposures (to self, firm, clients and third parties and vendor risk considerations); Ethical Implications; Intersection between Ethics and Legal malpractice; and Considerations to be made regarding legal malpractice and claims when an attorney is retiring from a law firm and/or the practice of law, including long tail coverage. Finally, there will be a discussion as to the types of policies available to attorneys in New Jersey, as well as trends.

Mr. Hille is a past President of the NJSBA. He focuses his practice in litigation, with a particular emphasis on trial advocacy. His areas of concentration include insurance, healthcare law, professional liability and ethics, and white-collar criminal matters, including those related to professional ethics. Mr. Hille has extensive trial expertise that encompasses insurance defense and coverage cases, healthcare disputes, professional liability defense, fraud and abuse, and regulatory issues. He is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney. 

 Information about the 2024 Annual Meeting and Convention is available on the NJSBA website.