Devoted to the Insurance industry and all thing related

I wrote a previous post about a law firm postponing their plans to start a blog because their malpractice insurer Chubb said they wouldn’t be able to cover the blog.  However, The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies (CB) has made a statement about this issue according to the Insurance Journal:

“Chubb categorizes law firm blogs into two general classes: informational and advisory.

An informational blog presents information or offers a forum for
discussing issues in a neutral, unbiased way. This type of blog offers information similar to that found in an article or presented by an individual in a seminar -- informational blogs do not provide advice to a specific individual on a unique matter. Typically, these blogs pose aminimal level of risk from Chubb's underwriting perspective.

In an advisory blog, however, a law firm offers advice. By its nature, then, it increases the risk of a malpractice lawsuit against the firm. An advisory blog can potentially establish an attorney-client relationship, possibly bypassing such safeguards as determining the suitability of a potential client and checking for possible conflicts of interest.”

Like I wrote in the first post if the law firm puts a clearly visible warning that the information in the blog is not advice but for informational purposes they shouldn’t have a problem.  It makes sense that Chubb and possibly other insurers would be cautious about an advisory blog.