Lawyers Mutual Insurance of Kentucky
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    • …And Here’s the Top Ten! Ethics and Malpractice Avoidance Guide
    • Effective Supervision: How to Meet Your Ethical Duties and Support Your Team
    • Improving Lawyer Competence with a Trauma Informed Approach
    • It’s Time for Your Annual Check-up!
    • Oyez! Oyez! An Overview of the New Kentucky Rules of Appellate Procedure
    • Planning for the Inevitable Protecting Your Law Firm In A Crisis
    • The Lawyer-Client Relationship Continuum: Determining Duties Owed After Casual Conversations
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We fight for the fighters.

Are YOU Competent in Computer-Assisted Legal Research - CALR?
Download 2011_newsletter_fall.pdf

The Risk Manager, Fall 2011

In the article “10 Ways to Commit Malpractice With Your Computer,” # 4 is: Not using computer-assisted legal research. Competence is the first rule in the Kentucky Rules of Professional Conduct and competence is the best risk management for avoiding malpractice claims. As the Internet has blossomed as a tool for research and conducting investigations, a lawyer not competent at CALR is increasingly at risk for being found negligent when failing to find relevant authority and information on the Internet. Examples are:

  • In Norgaard v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., 121 F.3d 1075 (7th Cir. 1997) a lawyer missed a US Supreme Court decision available on the Internet essential to his appeal. The Court ruled “Ignorance of the Supreme Court’s docket, although ‘neglect,’ is not ‘excusable’ – it is nothing but negligence, which does not justify untimely action.”
  • Another lawyer reported to the judge that he could not locate his client. The judge did an Internet search for the missing client and located him in about 10 minutes – certainly one of life’s embarrassing moments for that lawyer.
  • In an effort to help the cause we offer the following information on these two Internet Websites that are important to lawyers:
  • PubMed: This website is a free gateway to the National Library of Medicine. It offers more than 21 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations often include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher websites. This is an outstanding resource for researching medical issues.
  • FDsys: The Federal Digit System Website replaced the GPO Access Website last December. FDsys provides free online access to official Federal Government publications for all three branches of the Federal government. It is an easier and much improved research tool for researching Federal publications.

    The quickest way to these Websites is to Google PubMed or FDsys. (Last viewed 9/6/2011.)

 

Lawyers Mutual of Kentucky

10503 Timberwood Cir., Ste. 213
Louisville, Kentucky 40223

Phone: 502-568-6100
Fax: 502-568-6103

Who We Are
About Us
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Board of Directors

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Subjects A-Z
Schedule an Ethics CLE
Practice Management

Lawyers Mutual of Kentucky

10503 Timberwood Cir., Ste. 213
Louisville, Kentucky 40223

Phone: 502-568-6100
Fax: 502-568-6103

Who We Are
About Us
Staff
Board of Directors

What We Do
Risk Mitigation
Professional Liability Policy
Court Bonds
FAQs

Applications
Quick Quote
Application
New Bar Admit

Applications
Quick Quote
Application
New Bar Admit

Forms
Bar Complaint
Claims Reporting
Make a Payment
Add an Attorney
Remove an Attorney
Firm Name Change
Firm Address Change

Resources
Subjects A-Z
Schedule an Ethics CLE
Practice Management

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LinkedIn
Instagram
Twitter

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Disclaimer: The contents of this Web site are intended for general information purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances. It is not the intent of this Web site to establish an attorney’s standard of due care for a particular situation. Rather, it is our intent to advise our policyholders to act in a manner which may be well above the standard of due care in order to avoid claims having merit, as well as those without merit. In the event any statement on the Web site differs from a statement in an issued policy the policy will control.

  • Who We Are
    • About Us
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • What We Do
    • Risk Mitigation
    • Professional Liability Policy
    • Court Bonds
    • FAQs
  • Applications
    • Quick Quote
    • Application
    • New Bar Admit
    • Apply by Postal Mail
  • Forms
    • Claims Reporting
    • Policy Changes
      • Adding an Attorney
      • Remove an Attorney
      • Firm Name Change
      • Firm Address Change
    • Make a Payment
    • Future Contact Request
    • Reporting a Bar Complaint
  • Media
    • Newsletter Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Disaster Response Information
  • Resources
    • Site Search
    • Subjects A–Z
    • Subjects by Year
    • Schedule an Ethics CLE
    • OnDemand CLE Courses
    • Practice Management
    • Financial Statements
  • Contact