To Our Policyholders:
We are pleased to have served you, our Policyholders, for another year. I consider it an honor and a privilege to write this message each year to share a bit about your Company, Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company of Kentucky (LMICK). I often think of lawyers as superheroes – and in many ways they are just that as they pull off amazing feats to help a plaintiff with serious injuries; defend a corporation against “bet the farm” litigation; secure a not guilty verdict for a wrongly accused criminal defendant; and on and on. In this job, I am reminded, however, that these superheroes are not infallible. Yes, Virginia, lawyers do make mistakes and when they do LMICK is always ready to assist you.
For the past few years, this message has been about low claims inventory and healthy profits. The story of 2023 is different. In the same ways we tout the good years, we want to be transparent when the Company’s bottom line might suggest a different narrative. We netted a small profit in 2023, the 17th consecutively profitable year. I know some of you read the annual statement and we did not want 2023’s small profit by comparison to past years to cause any alarm. In many ways, 2023 was the most “successful” year since I came on board in early 2018. I say that because LMICK was there for a larger than normal number of insureds who ran into difficulty in 2023 in high value cases. While our overall claims inventory remained relatively low as compared to pre-pandemic levels, our insureds reported an inordinate number of claims involving mistakes in very good underlying cases. As a result, LMICK paid large sums on an unusually high number of severe claims. You might be wondering how that translates to a successful year. Simply, the strength and stability of the Company allowed us to stand in the breach in a difficult and expensive year for our insureds and provide coverage in their time of need.
As I recently told a group of newer lawyers, “don’t fall prey to thinking that you are immune from making a mistake or having a claim asserted against you.” Several very fine lawyers with sterling reputations and track records reported claims in 2023. Understanding that the finest lawyers you know are susceptible to making an error, please take appropriate steps and actions in your practice to manage and mitigate your risk. We have a plethora of risk management and risk mitigation resources available to you at no cost – the LMICK Minute, quarterly CLEs, forms and materials in our on-line library, and dozens of other CLE presentations across the Commonwealth each year. Please avail yourself of these resources and call on us if we can be of assistance to you in your practice.
Aside from assisting insureds in positioning a number of significant cases for resolution at the end of 2023 and early 2024, LMICK enjoyed its usual robust renewal and new business numbers in 2023. We secured some additional adjacent office space that we will occupy in late summer. We hope to make our space available to our insureds who have need for a conference room or meeting space when in Louisville. Stay tuned for more in that regard as we take possession and explore how to best utilize our extra space. 2023 brought significant reinvestment in LMICK’s IT infrastructure, including a system conversion that could not have gone more smoothly. Additionally, we celebrated Lois Smith, LMICK’s long-time underwriter on her retirement at the end of 2023. We promoted internally and welcomed Jessica Beavin to the underwriting position. She has hit the ground running in 2024 and is excited to work with all of you. The accomplishments of 2023 are many and we continue to look for ways to better serve you and your practices.
Finally, in 2023, we were committed to memorializing the LMICK story for telling and retelling in the years to come. The “founding fathers,” if you will, of LMICK and many others provided hours of video history, stories and testimonials about the formation of LMICK. The participants shared how the Company got off the ground nearly 40 years ago, what the vision was for the organization then and what it has turned into today. We are so proud of LMICK – where it has been and where it is going – and we want everyone to be able to hear about it from those responsible for giving it life and legs. We ask that you take some time to watch some or all of the LMICK story. I bet you will be reminded of something you’ve forgotten about LMICK’s beginnings or learn something you never knew. We are confident that you will be proud of your insurance company too. None of it is possible without you and we look forward to serving you for another 40 years and beyond.
For more information about LMICK’s activities in 2023, please review the following reports.
Thank you, again, for being superheroes to your clients and for trusting us to protect your practice as our own for years to come.
Sincerely,
Angela Edwards
President & CEO