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Texas · No mandate, no disclosure rule

Texas law firm insurance, where it’s on you.

Coverage built for Texas firms — a state that neither mandates malpractice insurance nor requires you to disclose your coverage status, which puts the decision and the exposure squarely on the firm. We structure lawyers professional liability and the rest of the program.

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No state mandate — the coverage decision is the firm’s alone
No bar disclosure rule — clients won’t know unless you tell them
Lawyers professional liability, cyber, BOP, EPLI & WC in one place

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Texas law firm, in plain terms

Texas sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from Oregon. There is no requirement to carry legal malpractice insurance, and — unlike California and many other states — no requirement to tell clients or the bar whether you have it. The State Bar of Texas encourages coverage but the Supreme Court of Texas has declined to adopt a disclosure rule. That freedom means the responsibility, and the downside, rests entirely with the firm. Here is what that means for how you insure your practice.

Texas requires neither coverage nor disclosure

Texas does not require attorneys to carry professional liability insurance, and it does not require lawyers to disclose whether they are insured — to clients or to the bar. The State Bar of Texas strongly encourages malpractice coverage and maintains resources for finding it, but the Supreme Court of Texas has previously declined to adopt an insurance-disclosure rule. That places Texas among the more permissive states in the country on both questions.

For broader context on how unusual that is, the American Bar Association has tracked the long, state-by-state shift toward mandatory disclosure — a movement Texas has not joined. The practical effect for a Texas firm is that no rule will prompt you to buy coverage or remind a client to ask about it.

Why “not required” is not the same as “not needed”

The absence of a mandate changes who carries the risk, not whether the risk exists:

  • Claims happen regardless of the rules: a missed deadline, a conflict, or a drafting error produces the same lawsuit in Texas as anywhere else — and defense costs alone can be substantial.
  • Clients and counterparties increasingly ask: sophisticated clients, lenders, and co-counsel often require proof of malpractice coverage before they engage a firm, even where the state does not.
  • Going bare offers no protection: without coverage, the firm and its partners absorb both the defense and any judgment directly — a far larger number than the premium.

What we build for a Texas firm

Because nothing in Texas law forces the decision, we focus on building the program a firm should want on the merits: lawyers professional liability written claims-made with the retroactive date and prior-acts coverage set correctly, tail coverage planned for departures and retirements, and the cyber, business owner’s policy, EPLI, and workers’ compensation lines that round out the practice. We also help you produce clean certificates of insurance for the clients and lenders who do ask — turning your coverage into a credential rather than an afterthought.

Texas law firm — Frequently Asked

Questions Texas operators ask.

Is malpractice insurance required for Texas lawyers?
No. Texas does not require attorneys to carry professional liability insurance, and it does not require lawyers to disclose their coverage status to clients or to the State Bar. The State Bar of Texas encourages coverage and maintains resources for finding it, but the Supreme Court of Texas has declined to adopt a disclosure rule. That means the decision is entirely the firm’s — and so is the exposure. A claim arises the same way it would in any other state; without coverage, the firm and its partners pay the defense and any judgment themselves. We help Texas firms build the program they should carry on the merits, not because a rule forces it.
If Texas doesn’t require it, will clients even know whether I’m insured?
Not from any rule — Texas has no requirement that you tell clients whether you carry malpractice coverage, so most won’t know unless they ask. But more and more do ask: sophisticated clients, lenders, co-counsel, and larger organizations frequently require proof of malpractice insurance before engaging a firm, regardless of state law. In that environment, carrying coverage and being able to produce a clean certificate of insurance becomes a competitive credential. We place the lawyers professional liability and supporting lines and make it easy to issue the certificates the clients who do ask will want to see.
What is lawyers professional liability insurance and what does it cover?
Lawyers professional liability (LPL) — also called legal malpractice insurance — covers claims that your legal services caused a client financial harm. That includes missed deadlines and blown statutes of limitation, conflicts of interest, errors in drafting or advice, and similar professional mistakes, along with the cost of defending those claims. It does not cover the firm’s other exposures — employee injuries, data breaches, employment claims, or property damage — which is why most firms pair LPL with workers’ compensation, cyber, EPLI, and a business owner’s policy. LPL is the policy your clients and, in some states, your bar expect you to carry.
What does “claims-made” mean for a legal malpractice policy?
Almost all lawyers professional liability is written on a claims-made basis, which means the policy that responds is the one in force when the claim is made against you — not the one in force when you did the work. Two features control whether an old matter is covered: your retroactive date (the earliest date of work the policy will cover) and whether the policy includes prior-acts coverage. If you switch carriers and the new policy doesn’t pick up your prior acts, or sets a recent retroactive date, work you did in earlier years can fall through the gap. This is the single most important thing to get right when you change malpractice carriers, and it’s why we read the retroactive-date and prior-acts language before you bind.
Other States

law firm insurance in other states.

Oregon · Mandatory PLF coverageCalifornia · Rule 1.4.2 client disclosure

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