Lawyers can set an example for the rest of society by requiring mandatory malpractice insurance for the practice of law in South Dakota. Our State Bar Client Security Fund is not meant to be a substitute for malpractice insurance. The Client Security Fund has limited resources. It generally pays only for intentional acts, such as fraud and theft. One cannot obtain malpractice insurance for one's fraud and theft.
Malpractice insurance protects lawyers against their professional negligence.
The cost of practicing law ought to include the cost of paying premiums for malpractice insurance. Our profession needs financially responsible practitioners as a matter of professional and public policy. The State Bar has briefly looked at mandatory malpractice insurance in the past, and it is time to look at it again. We owe it to ourselves and the public to take action. Some in our ranks would suggest that every time a lawyer gets a new client, he or she should be required to disclose in writing to the client whether or not they have malpractice insurance.