LAWYERS are the butt of many a joke, but the last one they want to hear goes something like this: "Did you hear about the lawyer who was sued down to his briefs?" Nevertheless, many lawyers have to grin and bear it, as they discover that knowledge of the law is not a sufficient defense in an increasingly litigious society. Instead, they also need good lawyers professional liability insurance policies–and that's where our agency comes in.

The Walnut Advisory Corp. has a $25 million (revenue) book of business, and lawyers professional liability insurance accounts for about $10 million of it. We sell LPL coverage in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Georgia and Mississippi. We insure thousands of law firms, functioning as both a retailer and a program administrator in all the aforementioned states. About half our LPL business is written on a retail basis.

Our typical clients are general-practice law firms. They may be sole practitioners or firms with as many as 25 attorneys. Their practice areas include corporate law, residential and commercial real estate and personal-injury defense. We also have clients in criminal defense, products-liability defense and insurance-company defense. Other acceptable practice areas include family law, tax law, wills and estate creation, and probate. Our target clientele does not extend to law firms with major securities practices, particularly those whose clients include publicly owned corporations.