Sept. 19, 2018 – You’re in the business of practicing law. But managing the business of practicing law is time-consuming, complicated, and gets in the way of serving client needs.

New benefits for State Bar of Wisconsin members help you spend more time practicing law and less time managing your business.

Through the work of the State Bar Insurance and Member Benefits Committee led by Todd Martin, members can obtain these new benefits with M3 Insurance:

• Cybersecurity insurance against cyber threats

• Expanded crime coverage policy/bond

• Expanded surety bond options for coverage for your client needs

Coverage is tailored to your firm size and resources. M3 Insurance offers preferred pricing, lower deductibles, and an easy application process.

See more information on WisBar.org.

Cyber Security Coverage

As of April 2017, as many as 14 million businesses – half – of the 28 million small businesses nationwide have been hacked over the past 12 months.¹ According to the National Cyber Security Alliance, as many as 60 percent of small businesses go out of business within six months of experiencing a data breach.²

To protect your practice, Identity Fraud Inc. offers protection through its BIZLock cybercrime insurance program specially designed for small businesses.³ Coverage is tailored to your firm’s size and needs, and can include these areas:

• Cyber extortion (such as ransomware)

• Business identity insurance and monitoring

• Business interruption

• Data reconstruction

• Website liability

• Breach response mitigation expenses

• And more

For more information, visit BIZLock’s webpage for State Bar members.

Optional Bond or Crime Policy

In 2016, the Wisconsin Supreme Court amended trust account rule SCR 20:1.15(f)(3) to permit electronic banking and to provide options for trust account management. For more information, see Options for Trust Account Management.

One of the options includes situations in which “the lawyer or law firm maintains a bond or crime policy in an amount sufficient to cover the maximum daily account balance during the prior calendar year.”⁴

However, such coverage was not available at the time. As a result, this new insurance coverage was developed through joint discussions with CapSpecialty Insurance Company and the Office of Lawyer Regulation.⁵

The policy, underwritten by CapSpecialty Insurance Co.⁶, includes comprehensive coverage that encompasses:

• Employee dishonesty, forgery, or alteration

• Computer fraud

• Money orders and counterfeit currency

Special endorsements approved by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance ensure that the coverage is compliant with the Wisconsin Trust Account Rule (SCR 20:1.15(f)(3)c.2, and provides coverage for:

• Funds transfer fraud

• Partners inclusion endorsement

• Social engineering fraud

• Loss of client’s property

For more information, visit Saving on Insurance in the Member Benefits section of WisBar.org.

For specific questions about SCR 20:1.15(f)(3)c.2, contact the State Bar of Wisconsin Ethics Hotline at (608) 229-2017 or (800) 254-9154, or the Office of Lawyer Regulation.

Expanded Bond Coverage

The State Bar also offers expanded bond coverage for the following areas:

• Court bonds (appeal, attachment, bankruptcy trustee, injunction, receivership, release of lien, replevin, sheriff indemnity, TRO)

• Probate bonds (administrator, conservator, guardian, trustee)

• Notary bonds (individual)

• Notary error & omission (individual or business)

• Title agency/agent bond

These new bond coverages are also being underwritten by CapSpecialty Insurance Co.

For more information about all insurance and coverage options, visit Saving on Insurance in the Member Benefits section of WisBar.org.

Endnotes

¹ Congress addresses Cyberwar On Small Business: 14 Million Hacked Over Last 12 Months. CNBC, April 5, 2017.

² 60 Percent of Small Companies That Suffer a Cyber-Attack Are Out of Business Within Six Months. The Denver Post, Oct. 23, 2016.

³ Identity Fraud, Inc. is an insurance intermediary and cyber insurance program administrator operating nationwide. As an original pioneer of consumer identity fraud protection and cyber insurance solutions dating back to 1997, Identity Fraud, Inc., provides a variety of risk management and insurance solutions to protect individuals and businesses against identity crimes and data theft risks.

⁴ SCR 20:1.15(f)(3)c.2. (emphasis added).

⁵ According to Travis J. Stieren, trust account program administrator, “the Office of Lawyer Regulation reviewed the crime coverage policy and concluded that it meets the requirements of SCR 20:1.15(f)(3)c.2., as effective July 1, 2016. Of course, OLR reserves judgment in case future grievances involve any future modifications to the Supreme Court Rules or to the language of the crime coverage insurance policy.”

⁶ CapSpecialty has provided surety bonding since 1959 and is a national underwriter of surety and fidelity as well as specialty insurance products in commercial property and casualty and professional lines. CapSpecialty has an A (“Excellent”) rating from A.M. Best and its operating entities are subsidiaries of Alleghany Insurance Holdings LLC, whose parent company, Alleghany Corporation, is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol “Y”). For more information about CapSpecialty, please visit www.CapSpecialty.com. For more information about Alleghany, visit www.alleghany.com.