Lower Malpractice Risk
Substance Use Disorder and Malpractice Risk
A great deal more research needs to be conducted to more accurately determine the causal connection between substance use disorder (SUD) and malpractice costs. Insurance carriers who underwrite errors and omissions policies for the legal services industry presumably have access to data that would help shed a great deal of light on this question. To date, however, the information either hasn't been analyzed, or the insurers are keeping this information to themselves. The ABA has called on insurance carriers to implement means of tabulating this information, and disseminating it, as part of the push to reduce SUD in the profession.
The most comprehensive study to date is a 1986 analysis conducted by the Oregon State Bar. That study looked at 100 lawyers who entered Oregon's Lawyers Assistance Program (LAP0. The study found that sixty percent of these lawyers had malpractice claims entered against them. Study cited by Benjamin GA, Darling EJ, Sales B. The Prevalence of Depression, Alcohol Abuse, and Cocaine Abuse Among United States Lawyers. Int J Law Psychiatry. 1990;13(3), Page 244.
It is postulated that the casual connection between malpractice claims and SUD is far greater than revealed by the Oregon State Bar study. That study was limited to the cohort who had entered the Oregon lawyers assistance program (LAP). We know that most impaired attorneys don't seek LAP assistance. What is known is that addiction creates severe dysfunction that results in subpar performance and ethical lapses. Reducing SUD has resulted in substantial reduction of workplace negligence across the entire occupational spectrum. There is no reason to expect any differently in the context of the legal profession, especially considering the importance of cognition which is greatly disrupted by SUD.
The same benefit of lowering malpractice risk flows from reducing stress, depression and anxiety. Like SUD, these psychological conditions substantially impair cognition, often leading to costly oversights that result in malpractice claims.
As night follows day, so do premium savings on errors and omissions insurance policies when risk is ameliorated and claims experience reduced. The premium savings to law firms and other legal service providers who address SUD, stress, depression, and anxiety can be quite dramatic in the competitive market of insurance underwriting. There is also substantial direct savings to the legal employer by avoiding the inordinate amount of uncompensated time a firm must devote to defending malpractice claims. Firms also avoid the reputational damage and emotional distress by reducing their claims incidence rates.