January 14, 1998

Present at the meeting were Mike Ludwig, Reba Nance, Heather Burkham, Donna Lloyd, Laurie Hawley, Craig Fleishman, Bill Short, Mike McConnell, Dave Little, John Wheeler, Dan McCune, John Palmeri, Chris Buckman and Michael Mihm.

Chris Buckman of Sedgwick James reported on recent claims dated for Coregis. 20.3% of the claims are resulting from Personal Injury practice. 13% of the claims are originating from family law practices. Real estate is 7.5% of the claims, and corporate and business law generate 5.7% of the claims. In terms of severity, 29.7 of the claims originate from personal injury lawyers (compared to national average of 23%). 11% of the claims of the severity of the claims are from family practice lawyers (as opposed to national average of 5%). The committee discussed whether or not we should focus our malpractice prevention efforts on the family and personal injury areas of practice.

Chris Buckman also reported that Senior Officers from Coregis will be visiting the committee some time in March. We have to change the scheduled meeting date of March 11, 1998 to accommodate their schedule. Heather Burkham will send out a notice when the meeting has been rescheduled.

Reba Nance reported on the Speakers Bureau and Outreach programs through the local bar associations. Reba recently spoke to the Weld County Bar Association. Craig Fleishman recently spoke to the Pitkin County Bar Association.

Heather Burkham reported on the recent issues of Whoops.

Michael Mihm presented a request of Tim Arnold, of the Attorney Generals Office, that the Bar Association take a position in the Amicus brief in support of the State in the case of Arthur Nieto v. State of Colorado. After considerable discussion, the committee decided that the Bar Association probably not take a position on the case. The Committee was fairly evenly split upon the issue.

The Committee discussed recent developments and cases arising out of Special Needs Trust. At this point, there does not seem to be a flood of new legal malpractice cases. The various malpractice insurance carriers have been informed of this possible trend, and will be watching for trends in that area.

John Wheeler reported on the malpractice prevention seminars. The seminars are beginning on Friday, January 16, 1998 in Grand Junction.

The Committee discussed whether or not to put on a program at the CBA Convention. Michael Mihm will discuss the matter with chairs of other committees to see if the Lawyers' Professional Liability Committee can assist with their programs.

Craig Fleishman brought to the committee's attention his concerns of recent developments in grievance cases in which he has been representing the respondent lawyers. The committee discussed these matters at length.

There being no further business the committee adjourned.

(Minutes by Michael T. Mihm, Chair)