Office merry-go-round. Two attorneys at a small firm decided to go their separate ways. There was about six months to go on the now-dissolved firm's malpractice policy, and the decision was made to simply let it run until expiration, at which point the lone partner would take the policy over for himself. Neither the carrier that insured the two-attorney firm, nor the carrier insuring the six-attorney firm, where the other partner now works, was notified of any of these changes.

A claim arouse against the now-solo partner during this period. While the facts surrounding the claim turned out to have nothing whatsoever to do with the attorney who was now a member of the six-attorney firm, the claim was made against the policy belonging to his old firm, and thus claims experience liability was imputed against him. When it came time to renew the larger firm's insurance policy, and their carrier now became aware of the new partner, the underwriter quite naturally wanted to see a claims history report from his prior carrier. It now showed an open claim with a fairly significant reserve, for both defense and indemnity. The larger firm's insurance carrier balked - and offered to renew the firm's policy with a substantial increase in premium. Negotiations are taking place to resolve this issue.