This article from Lawyers Weekly U.S.A. explains that insurance defense lawyers are seeing an increased in the number of professional negligence claims filed against them.
An excerpt: “According to an ABA study released last summer, malpractice claims against personal injury defense lawyers increased 6 percent from 1999 to 2003 – the largest increase in any practice area. Nearly 10 percent of all malpractice claims in 2003 were filed against personal injury defense lawyers. Personal injury-defense now ranks third in malpractice claims, behind top-ranked personal injury-plaintiff and real estate. Family law and trusts and estates rank fourth and fifth, respectively.”
Read the article here. NOTE: Link is broken and article now lost in cyberspace.
As I have mentioned in the past, I serve on the Standards Committee for the National Board of Trial Advocacy. My experience on that Committee has lead me to make the same conclusion. Also, I see an increasing number of claims challenging trial strategy decisions.