Loss Prevention
ALAS's loss prevention program is the most comprehensive available in the insurance industry. Our program is a critical, value-added service for our member firms, as the issues they face are more complex than they were 20 or even 10 years ago. Changes in the law, including new regulations that directly affect how lawyers practice, law firm growth, and developments in lawyer and law firm liability have made effective loss prevention a necessity for large law firms. To meet this need, ALAS loss prevention counsel, all former partners of major firms, provide a wide range of services.
Consultation
Loss prevention counsel are available to render advice by telephone on all loss prevention and ethics questions applicable to large law firms. They typically respond to over 500 calls each year on conflicts of interest issues alone, and more than 800 calls on other loss prevention issues. ALAS loss prevention counsel also conduct comprehensive loss prevention reviews at no charge to member firms. These reviews involve an in-depth analysis of the firm's claims history as well as its policies and procedures for areas such as new business intake, conflicts of interest, opinion and audit response letters, and issues arising under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Loss Prevention Programs
Loss prevention counsel frequently visit member firms to present loss prevention programs. We use actual claims histories to show member firm lawyers how situations that arise regularly in their practices can take a bad turn and lead to a claim. By alerting our member firm lawyers to the potential risks in those situations and urging them to seek help promptly from their loss prevention partners, we arm them with the tools necessary to minimize exposure. These programs are at no charge to the firm and often qualify for MCLE credit.
Publications & DVDs
ALAS also provides a wide variety of publications and DVDs to assist our member firms' loss prevention efforts.
- The ALAS Loss Prevention Manual is a unique, in-depth reference guide of advanced material, spanning over 800 pages, which is focused exclusively on loss prevention advice for large law firms. ALAS updates the Manual annually. We also offer our Prototype Lawyers’ Manual. That work includes over 60 model policies and forms specifically designed to address the concerns of large law firms.
- ALAS also publishes the Loss Prevention Journal three times a year. In 2005, the Journal addressed a diverse range of topics including IRS Circular 230, corporate internal investigations, electronic documents and discovery, and the preservation of the attorney-client privilege for internal law firm communications.
- For issues that are more time-sensitive, such as new court decisions, ethics opinions, or administrative regulations, ALAS e-mails Loss Prevention Hotline Bulletins to our member firms.
- For other issues that deserve more in-depth treatment, ALAS periodically publishes management guides, including a business intake guide, a Sarbanes-Oxley guide, an employment practices liability guide, and a management liability guide.
- ALAS also has produced several loss prevention DVDs and videos that members have found very useful for in-house programming. These include an introduction to loss prevention, which our firms can use for training of new lawyers and laterals, a mock jury trial of a typical professional liability claim including jury deliberations, and a loss prevention program for patent lawyers.
The Manual, the Prototype Lawyers' Manual, all issues of the Journal, the Hotline Bulletins, the management guides, and the video study guides are available to member firms on the ALAS Web site.