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If you have questions that are not answered below, or if need further clarification or information, please contact LAWPRO®'s customer service department toll-free at 1-800-410-1013, 416-598-5899 or at service@lawpro.ca.
About coverage for the work provided by non-lawyers
 I will be hiring an articling student next month. Does LAWPRO cover the work done by the articling student?
The insurance program policy generally insures Law Society LAWYERS only. The only exception is in the case of non-lawyer
partners in an MDP partnership, who must also purchase the program coverage. Therefore, articling students are not eligible
to purchase coverage under the program and are not Insureds under the program policy. Of course, agency law is likely to apply
in the context of an articling student who is working directly under the LAWYER'S supervision and control, so much of their
exposure is likely to be picked up under the LAWYER'S program coverage. Therefore, subject to the ordinary terms and conditions
of the policy, LAWPRO would provide coverage to the insured LAWYER to the extent that he or she is liable for the
activities of the articling student.
We are a small partnership (not a MDP partnership) of 5 LAWYERS who have hired a chartered accountant to join the firm and will be providing services solely under the supervision of one of the LAWYERS. Is there coverage under the LAWPRO policy for the services provided by the chartered accountant?
The Law Society program policy generally insures Law Society LAWYERS only. The only exception to this, is in the case
of non-lawyer partners in an MDP (multi-discipline partnership), who must also purchase the program coverage. Your specific
query is outside the context of multi-discipline partnerships, and speaks to the circumstance of where a non-lawyer
professional - such as a chartered accountant - is employed by your law firm and providing services solely under the
supervision of a LAWYER. Subject to the ordinary terms and conditions of the policy, LAWPRO would provide coverage to the
insured firm LAWYER(S) to the extent that he or she was liable for the activities of the non-lawyer professional. In that
case, however, it certainly would be available to LAWPRO to pursue the non-lawyer professional for his or her own liability.
As you may appreciate, the Law Society insurance program provides coverage for individual LAWYERS. To the extent that there
are non-lawyer professionals employed in the firm, it is expected that they will maintain coverage for their own professional
services. It would be ill-advised for the non-lawyer professional to presume that he or she may have umbrella coverage under
the LAWYER'S insurance coverage. Indeed, it may well be that the non-lawyer professional is under a professional obligation
to maintain his or her own insurance coverage.
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