Insurance for Legal Consulting

xEmeraldx

Hi there,

I was asked by a company to write content on legislation for their blog. The work would consist of writing 1500 word articles in which I "translate" legal language into more accessible content for people in various fields of business.

It will not be a huge project, only 20 hours a week for six months. I do not own a business, in fact I'm still in university pursuing a second Master degree. I know I will need personal indemnity insurance and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for me as to which insurer to go with. I should mention that I am not from Ireland which is why I'm not sure how to go about this.

Lastly, is there anything else I will need insurance wise? Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks :]

Manach

Would not the Blog have the usual disclaimers ie "not meant to be legal advice". AFAIR, there are a number of legal opinion Blogs out there (eg http://www.tjmcintyre.com ) or even the Legal Forum on boards that have an implicit assumption that this is not legal counsel at the same level of privilege as say a consultation with a legal professional.

xEmeraldx

Thank you very much for responding.

That is what I have on my own legal blog. The thing that concerns me is that I will have a contract with the company I'm writing for and just deliver the content to them. So in a way I'm advising them as to what they should post on their blog. I have no control over the blog itself. What I'm wondering is whether they could hold me liable if I omit something or make a mistake with regards to the articles I will supply them with.

antoinolachtnai

I think you are writing articles for them exactly as you have described. You are like the person who writes law reports in the paper, or a senior counsel who writes about what the law means in an op-ed in the newspaper. You are essentially a journalist or an academic. You are not in a professional lawyer-client relationship with either the client or the people who read this. You might state this explicitly, or you might not.

If the public reading this blog have a problem, it will almost certainly be with the publisher of the blog, not with you.

I do not think you will not be able to get insurance for legal consulting to a lay client. The reason is that 'legal consulting' is essentially the practice of law. It is basically illegal to practice law in Ireland unless you are a barrister or a solicitor.

But you are not doing legal consulting. You are writing content and no more. You might be advising them on what to put up on their blog, but you aren't advising them on how to carry out their affairs or comply with legislation.

But if you are concerned, you should certainly get your own legal advice.

pedroeibar1

xEmeraldx wrote: »

Thank you very much for responding.

That is what I have on my own legal blog. The thing that concerns me is that I will have a contract with the company I'm writing for and just deliver the content to them. So in a way I'm advising them as to what they should post on their blog. I have no control over the blog itself. What I'm wondering is whether they could hold me liable if I omit something or make a mistake with regards to the articles I will supply them with.

You are a copywriter providing copy for their website. You are asked to provide x pages of concise report in layman's language. It is not legal opinion.
That is the contract underlying the relationship. It is up to them to post it or not on their website.
Personally I would have serious doubts about working with someone I suspected would sue me.