General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6605
January Session, 2011 LCO No. 4633
*04633_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on Judiciary
Introduced by:
(JUD)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 6605
January Session, 2011
LCO No. 4633
*04633_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on Judiciary
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT REQUIRING ATTORNEYS TO MAINTAIN PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2011) (a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, each person admitted as an attorney by the Superior Court, in accordance with section 51-80 of the general statutes, shall maintain professional liability insurance or other indemnity against liability for professional malpractice. The amount of insurance that each such person shall carry as insurance or indemnity against claims for professional malpractice shall not be less than one million dollars for one person, per occurrence, with an aggregate of not less than three million dollars.
(b) Not later than March 1, 2012, and annually thereafter, each insurance company that issues professional liability insurance policies described in subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of section 38a-393 of the general statutes shall render to the State-Wide Grievance Committee established in section 51-90 of the general statutes a true record of the names and addresses, according to classification, of cancellations of and refusals to renew professional liability insurance policies and the reasons for such cancellation or refusal to renew such policies for the prior calendar year.
(c) Any person who is subject to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be deemed in compliance with said subsection (a) if such person (1) provides legal services to a single client who has knowingly waived the requirements of said subsection (a) in writing, or (2) is exempt from the requirement to pay occupational tax under subsection (g) of section 51-81b of the general statutes, or is not liable for the payment of occupational tax under subsection (h) of section 51-81b of the general statutes.
(d) The State-Wide Grievance Committee shall notify the Chief Court Administrator of the violation of this section by any person. If such violation continues for more than thirty days, such person's admission as an attorney shall be administratively suspended in accordance with rules which the judges of the Superior Court shall establish. Such person's admission as an attorney shall remain administratively suspended until such time as the person submits proof that such person has obtained professional liability insurance in accordance with this section. If, prior to such administrative suspension, a person who is in violation of this section submits proof to the State-Wide Grievance Committee and the Chief Court Administrator that such person has applied for assistance pursuant to section 51-81d of the general statutes, as amended by this act, any administrative suspension proceeding against such person shall be tolled during the pendency of such application for assistance.
Sec. 2. Section 51-81d of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):
(a) The Superior Court, in accordance with rules established by the judges of the Superior Court, may (1) establish a Client Security Fund to (A) reimburse claims for losses caused by the dishonest conduct of attorneys admitted to the practice of law in this state and incurred in the course of an attorney-client relationship, [and] (B) provide for crisis intervention and referral assistance to attorneys admitted to the practice of law in this state who suffer from alcohol or other substance abuse problems or gambling problems, or who have behavioral health problems, and (C) provide for loans upon application by an attorney and a showing of a need to pay for professional liability insurance required under section 1 of this act, and (2) assess any person admitted as an attorney by the Superior Court, in accordance with section 51-80, an annual fee to be deposited in the Client Security Fund. Such crisis intervention and referral assistance [(i)] (A) shall be provided with the assistance of an advisory committee, to be appointed by the Chief Court Administrator, that includes one or more behavioral health professionals, and [(ii)] (B) shall not be deemed to constitute the practice of medicine or mental health care. The judges of the Superior Court shall establish rules to prescribe the application form and criteria for granting loan applications under subparagraph (C) of subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(b) All fees assessed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and collected by the Superior Court in accordance with rules established by the judges of the Superior Court may be recorded with the State Comptroller and deposited with the State Treasurer, who shall credit such payments to the Client Security Fund. The State Treasurer shall maintain the Client Security Fund separate and apart from all other moneys, funds and accounts and shall credit any interest earned from the Client Security Fund to the fund. The Client Security Fund shall be maintained by the State Treasurer in trust for the sole and exclusive purposes and uses designated in this section. The moneys in the Client Security Fund are not tax revenues and may not be transferred or credited to the General Fund or any other fund or account except as expressly directed by the committee established to administer the fund and in accordance with rules established by the judges of the Superior Court.
(c) The Client Security Fund shall be used to satisfy the claims approved in accordance with procedures established pursuant to rules of the Superior Court, to provide funding for crisis intervention and referral assistance provided pursuant to this section, to provide loans to attorneys for professional liability insurance pursuant to rules of the Superior Court and to pay the reasonable costs of administration of the fund.
(d) No such fee shall be assessed to any attorney described in subsection (g) of section 51-81b, except that any attorney who does not engage in the practice of law as an occupation and receives less than four hundred fifty dollars in legal fees or other compensation for services involving the practice of law during the calendar year shall be obligated to pay one-half of such fee.
(e) The Commissioner of Revenue Services shall notify the Chief Court Administrator or [his] the commissioner's designee of the failure of any person to pay any fee assessed in accordance with subsection (a) of this section.
(f) All information given or received in connection with crisis intervention and referral assistance provided pursuant to this section, including the identity of any attorney seeking or receiving such crisis intervention and referral assistance, shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed to any third person other than a person to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for the accomplishment of the purposes of such crisis intervention and referral assistance, and shall not be disclosed in any civil or criminal case or proceeding or in any legal or administrative proceeding, unless the attorney seeking or obtaining such crisis intervention and referral assistance waives such privilege or unless disclosure is otherwise required by law. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, no attorney who provides crisis intervention and referral assistance pursuant to this section shall disclose any information given or received in connection with such crisis intervention and referral assistance unless such disclosure is required by the rules governing communications between attorney and client. Unless the privilege under this subsection has been waived or unless disclosure is otherwise required by law, no person in any civil or criminal case or proceeding or in any legal or administrative proceeding may request or require any information given or received in connection with the crisis intervention and referral assistance provided pursuant to this section.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2011 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2011 51-81d
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2011
New section
Sec. 2
October 1, 2011
51-81d
Statement of Purpose:
To require attorneys admitted to practice in this state who are engaged in the active practice of law on behalf of private clients to maintain professional liability insurance, and provide funding assistance from the Client Security Fund for the purpose of assisting attorneys to purchase such insurance.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]