For organizations that are principally in the business of providing advice to customers and clients, the need to manage potential exposure has never been greater. Continuing escalation of court filings, attorneys’ fee awards to prevailing plaintiffs, skyrocketing punitive damages and a litigious public fueled by media publicity have contributed to an increased focus on what frequently is referred to as “miscellaneous professional liability.” When things go wrong and business customers turn against their advisers, it is important to be defended by skilled legal counsel who understand your business and who can resolve these matters in an efficient and timely fashion.
When things go wrong and business customers turn against their advisers, it is important to be defended by skilled legal counsel who understand your business and who can resolve these matters in an efficient and timely fashion.
For more than 30 years, Wilson Elser has been providing sound and uncompromising counsel to clients in the business of advising those who are especially susceptible to this kind of risk, including:
- Insurance professionals
- Real estate professionals
- Fiduciaries and trustees
- Media/Cyber professionals
- Consulting/Outsourcing professionals
Our attorneys represent both individuals and institutions in these fields. We bring a mastery of the specialized state and federal laws that regulate professionals, knowledge of the practice standards imposed by their self-regulating industry and association boards, and experience in litigating both simple and complex cases in state and federal courts, in arbitrations and in administrative hearings.
Our attorneys have handled significant malpractice claims arising from:
- Real estate transactions that go awry, involving both residential and commercial properties, and cases against real estate professionals arising from allegedly “undisclosed” construction defects, toxic substances, property line disputes and the variety of real estate claims brought about by the credit crisis.
- Insurance placements that do not meet the customer’s goals (usually with benefit of post-loss hindsight) in terms of policy limits, scope of coverage or other benefits.
- Alleged errors by non-ERISA trustees, such as family trustees, guardians, conservators, private and public company directors and officers, and others who hold fiduciary positions.
- Temporary staffing agencies, data processing vendors, background check agencies and human resources consultants and other businesses that earn their fees by providing advice as well as other services.
One of our most important roles is to educate businesses regarding their exposures to professional liability claims, and protecting themselves from those claims through contractual indemnity agreements and liability insurance.
Business/Transactional Services
Wilson Elser assists all types of professionals, and other businesses whose services include giving advice to others for a fee, in licensing and regulatory matters. We also help them through the complex contractual issues that are attendant to business formations, combinations and other contracts.
From regulatory to transactional to business disputes, Wilson Elser’s national footprint of professional liability attorneys provides a one-stop solution to the legal challenges faced by miscellaneous professionals, from the sole proprietorship to the largest national firms.
