Founders Specialty today announced several enhancements to the LegalFeeGuardSM insurance program effective Monday, May 15, 2017.  LegalFeeGuard is an insurance program that covers liability for attorney’s fees and costs under Florida’s Proposal for Settlement (“PFS”) statute that has been utilized by hundreds of Florida attorneys since its inception in 2012.  

The new enhancements include:

• PFS in Breach of Contract/Business Disputes and Intentional Torts are now able to be insured

• Higher Limits of $125,000 and $150,000 are now available

• Requirement that policies be purchased within 150 days of the first PFS has been eliminated

• New pricing levels established

Previously, LegalFeeGuard was only available to be purchased in personal injury cases heard in Florida state courts.  Now the program has been expanded to insure a wider array of cases, including breach of contract, business disputes, commercial law cases, intentional torts, etc.  Also, cases heard in federal court applying Florida law are now insurable.  

Responding to the demand for higher limits, the program now offers higher limits of $125,000 and $150,000.  A new limit option of $75,000 has also been introduced.   The largest limit previously available was $100,000.

Policies may be purchased at any time prior to 40 days prior to the scheduled start of trial.  It was previously required that policies must also have been purchased no later than 150 days after the receipt of the first PFS from an opposing party in a case.  This 150 day requirement has now been eliminated.

Commensurate with the elimination of the 150 day requirement, the premiums charged for a policy have changed, depending on when the policy is purchased. Three new pricing tiers will now exist: (1) policies purchased within 30 days of the first PFS, (2) after 30 days of the first PFS, and (3) those within 90 days of trial.  The lowest premiums are available if the policy is purchased within 30 days of the first PFS at a cost 5% of the limit selected (for example $500 for a $10,000 limit policy).  The mid-tier premium level is for policies that are purchased after 30 days of the first PFS, but before 90 days prior to trial.  These policies cost 7.5% of the limit selected. The highest premiums are for policies purchased within 90 days of trial, which are 10% of the limit selected.

Rick Kolodinsky commented “I am very excited about these changes to the LegalFeeGuard Program, especially the elimination of the 150 day rule.  Unfortunately, many times I have had to tell the attorneys that contacted me that the product was unavailable for their cases because the deadline for purchasing the product had passed. Expanding the program to insure more types of cases also makes a lot of sense, as well as offering higher limits.  I look forward to working with an even larger group of Florida litigators to help them understand how critical this insurance is to them and their clients.”

Attorneys or their clients can purchase the insurance using a credit card on the www.LegalFeeGuard.com website.  Under Florida Bar Staff opinion 28705 (revised) of the Professional Ethics Committee of the Florida Bar, an attorney in Florida may advance the cost of the premium of the LegalFeeGuard policy on behalf of his or her client. This opinion also states that the repayment of the premium can also be made contingent on the lawyer making a recovery on behalf of the client.

For additional information or to purchase a policy, please visit www.legalfeeguard.com or contact Rick Kolodinsky at (800) 315-1258, rick@legalfeeguard.com