Lawcovernotes December 2020

I’d like to begin by saying that I’m delighted to have the opportunity to continue Lawcover’s fantastic work in my role as CEO and I look forward to ensuring that you continue to receive the very best in legal insurance and support services. 2020 Annual Review Although the last four months of the 19/20 financial year presented enormous challenges, Lawcover continued to deliver strong financial and non-financial results. Our team quickly adapted to a new way of working and continued to focus on delivering maximum value to our insured law practices. Our success in achieving this goal is demonstrated by high customer satisfaction metrics, a strong financial position, and our ability to adapt to online, and expand, the Risk Management Education Program. If you didn’t receive your copy of the Lawcover 2020 Annual Review, you can access a copy here. COVID-19 impacts and response As also noted in the Lawcover 2020 Annual Review, the year ending 30 June 2020 has been one of significant challenge for everyone due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The full effect of the pandemic on our insured law practices remains to be seen, however we did not see a significant reduction in anticipated gross fee income estimates for 2020/21 declared by many law practices during the renewal period. We were otherwise very pleased to have provided premium relief and financial hardship assistance to those who required it and we will likely continue to do the same for the 2021/22 renewal period. Cyber Risk As I hope our recent Risk Alert made you all aware, in these times of increased reliance on electronic communications and remote working, cyber crime remains an increasing and unwelcome threat as evidenced by a surge in cyber attacks against law practices. While Lawcover’s cyber risk insurance cover provides effective support for law practices that fall victim to increasingly sophisticated tactics, it is vitally important to put the right measures in place to minimise the risk of experiencing disruption and distress in your practice. Our cyber related article in this edition of Cautionarynotes, offers important insights into protecting information security in your law practice and how you can make an informed assessment of your internal cyber safeguards. You can access further cyber-risk tips and guidance here. Risk Management Education Adaptation and innovation have been the hallmark of this unique year and our Risk Management Education program evolved accordingly, by adapting to the Zoom format when our popular face-to-face events were no longer possible due to the pandemic. 2021 will see our seminars and workshops delivered in a hybrid format through a combination of virtual and Covid-19 safe events. Available digital content includes our Short Minutes video case studies, Risk on Air podcasts, interactive workshops and risk briefings and of course our e-learning platform, Risk Online. As ever, we are committed to providing the legal profession with quality risk education and will continue to offer discounts on premiums when all principals of a law practice participate in the Principal’s Workshops. On behalf of the entire Lawcover team, I would like to extend our best wishes for the season and a healthy and happy New Year to all principals, solicitors and staff, as well as the numerous stakeholders who support Lawcover in achieving our aims and objectives. Kerrie Lalich Chief Executive Officer Lvl 13, 383 Kent St, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia DX 13013 Sydney Market Street Telephone (02) 9264 8855 | Facsimile (02) 9264 8844 lawcover@lawcover.com.au | lawcover.com.au Lawcover Pty Ltd | ABN 48 003 326 618 Lawcover Insurance Pty Ltd | ABN 15 095 082 509 Welcome to our December 2020 edition of Lawcovernotes. December 2020 edition 23 PDF VERSION