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22 September 2023 / Lubna Shuja
Issue: 8041 / Categories: Opinion , Profession , Insurance / reinsurance
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PII in the sky

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Cyber insurance, compulsory cover & spiralling premiums: Lubna Shuja sets out the latest findings of the Law Society on professional indemnity insurance

The legal services sector contributes £60bn a year to the UK economy and underpins over half a million jobs across England and Wales. Solicitors make an enormous contribution to our economy, but in order to protect their clients and themselves, they must have sufficient insurance.

More than 40% of firms still have the old common renewal date of 1 October, and they should be exploring the right cover for them. The Law Society carried out research on professional indemnity insurance (PII) to find out about the experience law firms and sole practitioners had of the insurance market.

A key issue we identified is that smaller firms are paying more, as a proportion of turnover, for their PII than larger firms. They are also more likely to switch insurers and end up paying higher premiums, suggesting they are doing so as a matter of necessity, not choice.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Robert Dransfield

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Robert Dransfield

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Firm boosts professional risk practice with team hire in Manchester, led by partner Ben Parks

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Doyle Clayton—Benedicte Perowne

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NEWS
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
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