At C&R Insurance Services, no area of practice is automatically declined! See our Area of Practice definitions for a clear description.
1. ADMIRALTY/MARITIME – Includes matters arising under the Carriage of Goods By Sea Act, Hater Act, Jones Act, and federal and state maritime laws. Also includes: the carriage of goods, collision and other maritime torts, general average, salvage, limitation of liability, ship financing, ship subsidies, the rights of injured sailors, and practice before federal and state courts and governmental agencies.
2. ANTITRUST – Includes matters arising under the Sherman Act, Clayton Act, Federal Trade Commission Act, Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and state antitrust statutes including restraints of trade, unfair competition, monopolization, price discrimination and restrictive practices.
3. BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS:
Commercial Law – Includes sales agreements, employment agreements, agency agreements, and commercial transactions including financing where real estate is not the major subject. Banking, commercial litigation-both plaintiff and defendant, contract drafting and interpretation, general corporate, loans, mechanics liens, mergers and acquisitions.
Entertainment – Includes representation of entertainment and sports clients in their business activities, including negotiations of personal appearances, serving as an artist’s manager, acting as a sports or talent agent, negotiation or arrangement of financing (other than normal contract negotiation), counseling regarding their assets, or making investments. Financial planning, investment counseling, money management, sports law.
4. CIVIL RIGHTS/DISCRIMINATION – Includes matters arising under federal and state laws relating to equal treatment in the areas of, among others, public accommodation, voting, employment, housing, elder law, administration of welfare and social security benefits.
5. COLLECTION/BANKRUPTCY – Includes all aspects of the federal bankruptcy law, including: personal and business bankruptcies, reorganizations, liquidations, receiverships and the rights, obligations and remedies of trustees, state insolvency laws, attachment, garnishment and repossession proceedings, foreclosure and practice before the Bankruptcy Court and other federal and state courts.
6. CONSTRUCTION LAW (BUILDING CONTRACTS) – Includes the area of law concerning construction and all aspects of building contracts including construction lien issues.
7. CONSUMER CLAIMS – Includes all aspects of consumer protection, including: sales practices, credit transactions, secured transactions and warranties, matters arising under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Magnuson-Moss Act, the Truth in Lending Act, and other good analogous federal and state statutes.
8. CORPORATE LAW AND BUSINESS ORGANIZATION – Includes the formation, operation, sale and dissolution of corporations, partnerships (general and limited), agencies and other forms of business organizations. Place business transactions such as sales, employment agreements and commercial transactions in the Business Transactions/Commercial Law category.
9. CRIMINAL –Includes the prosecution or representation of persons accused of crimes at all stages of criminal court proceedings, and legal activities arising from criminal defense work for juvenile matters, traffic offenses, and misdemeanors.
10. ENVIRONMENTAL LAW – Includes the regulation of environmental quality by governments, including: control of air, water and noise pollution, toxic substances, pesticides, civilian uses of nuclear energy, and solid waste/resource recovery. It also includes matters arising under the National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act, Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Noise Control Act, Solid Waste Disposal Act, Toxic Substance Control Act and other federal and state environmental statutes, as well as practice before federal and state courts and government agencies.
11. ESTATE/TRUST/PROBATE – Includes legal services dealing with the analysis and planning for the conservation and disposition of estates. Also includes estate and gift taxes. The preparation of legal instruments in order to effectuate estate plans, administer estates (including tax related matters), work involving trust planning, guardianships, custodianships and conservatorships are to be included here.
12. FAMILY LAW – Includes all aspects of prenuptial, antenuptial and domestic relationships, separation and divorce, alimony and child support, child custody matters and adoption and related court proceedings.
13. GOVERNMENT- FEDERAL AND STATE – Includes all aspects of the negotiation and administration of disputes concerning contracts with federal and state governmental agencies.
14. GOVERNMENT – LOCAL (not bond work) – Includes all matters dealing with states, their political subdivisions, regional and metropolitan authorities and other public entities including: their rights and duties, financing, public housing and urban development, election law and school law.
15. IMMIGRATION/NAUTRALIZATION – Includes obtaining permission to enter and remain in the United States including: visas, change of status, deportation and naturalization, representation of clients before courts and governmental agencies, and protection of aliens’ constitutional rights.
16. INTERNATIONAL – Includes all aspects of the relations among states, international business transactions, international taxation, customs and trade law, and foreign and comparative law.
17. LABOR LAW – Includes all aspects of employment relations including: unfair labor practices, collective bargaining, contract administration, and the rights of individual employees and union members. It also includes all matters arising under the National Labor Relations Act, Labor Management Relations Act, Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Occupational Safety and Health Act, Employee Retirement Income Security Act, other federal statutes and analogous state statutes, and practice before the National Labor Relations Board and analogous state boards, federal and state courts and arbitrators. Include equal employment opportunity matters in the Civil Rights/Discrimination category and individual employments in the Business Transactions category. ERISA.
18. LITIGATION:
PI/PD – Plaintiff – Includes the representation of parties in actions to recover for personal injury, wrongful death, property damage, libel and slander actions, medical malpractice and product liability suits where any form of personal injury or property damage is involved. Claims arising from a countersuit or cross suit of a defendant for the defendant’s personal injuries are to be included here.
Insurance Defense – Includes the representation of parties in defense of personal injury wrongful death, or property damage, libel and slander, medical malpractice and product liability suits where any form of personal injury or property damage is involved.
Worker’s Compensation – Defense and Plaintiff – Includes legal work relating to worker’s compensation claims, regardless of any other area of law that may be involved.
19. NATURAL RESOURCES/OIL & GAS – Includes all aspects of the regulation of natural resources such as coal, oil, gas, minerals, water, and public lands, and the rights and responsibilities related to their ownership and use.
20. PATENT/TRADEMARK/COPYRIGHT – Includes all aspects of the registration, protection, and licensing of patents, trademarks and copyrights, practice before federal and state courts, the prosecution of applications before the United States Patent and Trademarks Office, and counseling regarding unfair competition as it relates to patents, trademarks and copyrights.
21. REAL ESTATE – Includes legal activities involving real property transactions including: real estate conveyances, title searches, property transfers, leases, condominiums/cooperatives, mortgages, condemnation and eminent domain, zoning/land use planning, property taxes, real estate development, escrow agent, landlord/tenant disputes, syndication, title abstracting, housing court and financing. This category does not include environmental law areas such as air and water pollution.
22. SECURITIES LAW – Includes all activities involved with the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, advice about or preparation of registration (state or federal) or securities such as stocks, bonds or interest in business as well as proxy statements, exchanges of securities, insider sales and the failure to recognize that securities law applied to a transaction.
23. TAXATION/TAX OPINIONS – Includes all matters arising under the internal Revenue Code, state, local and foreign tax laws, including counseling and practice before federal and state courts and governmental agencies. Death and gift taxes are included in the Estate/Trust/Probate category. Real Property taxes are included in the Real Estate category.
AOPs that do not fit into the grid:
(1) Arbitration/Mediation- this should be placed in Administrative Law/Record keeping
(2) Health Law – need to determine exactly what services the insured is performing
(3) Juvenile Law – need to determine which area of the law the insured is involved in
(4) Litigation (including Civil Litigation) – need to determine which area of the law the insured is litigating.
(5) Medical Malpractice – either PI/PD Plaintiff or Insurance Defense after determination by the insured.
(6) Public Utilities – need to determine for which public entity the insured is working.
Looking for more information on areas of practice and how they relate to professional liability insurance? Read The Insurance Journal’s article on “Top Practice Areas for Lawyers’ Malpractice Claims.”