A gap in Ontario’s judicial system left some victims of incompetent lawyers unable to collect on their damage claims — until recently, that is.
Ontario lawyers must carry coverage through insurance provider LawPro, which requires that they report claims against them so their clients can be compensated. When lawyers fail to do so they are disbarred, but the client is still legally unable to collect from LawPro.
In 1997 the law society adopted a policy, recently clarified on its website, that reimburses victims up to $500,000 when LawPro won’t cover their claim. Since the policy wasn’t widely known before, people weren’t collecting on claims when LawPro denied them coverage.
Years later, some victims are now collecting their money. Since last November, when the policy was made more public, five new claims have been made, two of which have been settled.
Although LawPro has been the target of several lawsuits about its refusal to offer coverage, it claims these situations are rare.