Highlights of our 2024 Annual General Meeting

On June 13 and 14, we held our Annual General Meeting (AGM) at The Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort in Huntington Beach, California. The business meeting featured presentations by the Chair of the ALAS Board of Directors, Mary Ellen Powers of Jones Day; the incoming Chair of the ALAS Board of Directors, Todd Ruskamp of Shook, Hardy & Bacon; ALAS President and CEO Dan Donnelly; and ALAS CFO Akhil Wagh. The presentations underscored the excellent recent results and continued strength of our mutual organization. Highlights include:

• We continue to attract high-quality firms to our membership. Since the 2023 AGM, we have added six new members to ALAS: Cohen & Gresser; Crowell & Moring; Paul Hastings; Phillips Lytle; Robinson Gray Stepp & Laffitte; and Stevens & Lee. Since the beginning of 2020, 28 firms with over 10,000 lawyers have joined us. Our membership includes 92 firms in the Am Law 200 and many of the country’s finest regional and boutique firms. No other insurer for law firms can match the quality, strength, and diversity of the ALAS membership.
• Rates on our main lawyers’ professional liability (LPL) program have been favorable and markedly different than rate trends in the commercial market. We kept our 2024 LPL rates unchanged from the prior year, meaning that over the last decade, we either decreased rates or held them steady in nine of the ten years. Over that period, our LPL rates declined by nearly 20%.
• Our LPL claims results remain solid. In 2023, total loss emergence—which measures the net change in case-specific reserves from the prior year—declined from the prior year, while claims frequency remained near historically low levels. So far this year, underwriting results have been positive.
• The expertise and collaborative approach we bring to claims management is a key reason for our favorable claims results. That includes the high level of success we have when supporting our firms through trials and arbitrations. Since the beginning of 2022, our trial and arbitration record is 13–0, with our long-term victory rate standing at over 70%. We also continue to shape the law governing lawyers with favorable outcomes in federal and state appellate courts and through amicus efforts.
• Our capital position remains very strong. With excellent underwriting and investment results in 2023 and the first half of 2024, net worth remains over $1 billion. On May 10, 2024, Fitch reaffirmed our financial strength rating of “A” (Strong) with a Stable Outlook, citing our “very strong capitalization” and “superior business retention derived through [our] service orientation to member firms in loss prevention and claims management.”
• Our capital strength and strategic use of reinsurance allow us to offer our members the highest LPL limits in the industry. As of July 1, we have a total of 44 firms with over 32,000 lawyers, or approximately 40% of our total insured census, purchasing our maximum limits of $100 million per claim/$200 million in the aggregate. Our optional programs offering management and employment coverage also continue to provide important protection for our members. As of July 1, we insure 138 member firms and over 62,000 lawyers, or nearly 80% of our census, under these policies.
• Our loss prevention services far surpass anything offered by commercial brokers or insurers. Our services and resources help our members mitigate risk and improve the quality of their legal practices and operations. In addition to the AGM, our national events this year include our Managing Partner Program, New General Counsel Conference, Cybersecurity Conference, and a conference on creating inclusive law firms. We continue to address both long-standing loss prevention concerns and emerging issues. As examples of the latter, this year we have provided timely and practical guidance to our firms addressing generative AI and the Corporate Transparency Act.
• We also devote significant resources to our data analytics initiatives, which enhance our underwriting, claims management, and risk management services, and help our firms strengthen their own operations. Currently, we are making good progress on our Client Deep Dive project, which will provide data-based insights on the types of client representations that are more likely to cause professional liability claims. In addition, we recently issued an update of The ALAS EdgeTM, which includes guidance on how our firms are addressing critical cybersecurity risks.

If you would like to discuss the benefits of the most comprehensive insurance and risk management program available to premier law firms today, please contact any of the following lawyers in our Member Services group.