Insurance disclosure idea isn't popular at Bar hearing

Testimony at a State Bar of Texas public hearing today in Houston on the question of whether Texas lawyers should have to disclose if they have professional liability insurance was decidedly one-sided — against it. Nine lawyers testified at the hearing and all nine said they do not think it’s a good idea to force lawyers to tell clients whether they have professional liability insurance. The public hearing held at South Texas College of Law was one of several on the issue the State Bar has scheduled throughout Texas this month and in November. The State Bar board of directors will vote on the proposed requirement at its January 2010 meeting, and presumably make a recommendation to the Texas Supreme Court on whether a disclosure rule should be adopted, and if so, the preferred method of disclosure. The lawyers who testified in Houston today included some with professional liability insurance and some without. Kathryn Geiger, a solo practitioner who does family law and has had insurance since she started practicing 24 years ago, said she’s never had a client ask her about insurance. She says disclosure will lead to more litigation against lawyers and would cause her to question whether she can continue practicing. “I am totally and absolutely against this,” Geiger testified at the hearing led by State Bar President Roland Johnson. Also, Stanley Schneider, president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, testified that his group opposes a disclosure requirement. But if disclosure becomes a requirement, criminal defense attorneys should be exempt, Schneider, a shareholder in Schneider & McKinney, testified. Citing the Texas Supreme Court’s 1995 decision in Peeler v. Hughes & Luce, Schneider says a criminal defendant can’t bring a professional liability suit against his lawyer without first being exonerated. The next public hearing is Oct. 27 in El Paso.
-- Brenda Sapino Jeffreys