It's a fact that lawyers today practise in an increasingly complex world. The demands on members of the legal profession and the related risk of a claim have never been greater. Today, exposure to claims and the related need for liability insurance is simply a reality of practice.

For you, as a lawyer with a claim, costs come in several forms. First, there's the deductible that you are obligated to pay on a claim. There's also a claims history surcharge that's added to your premium if you have one claim. And then there are issues such as stress, time, professional stigma and lost opportunity to work on other matters ­ all of which come at a cost.

For the profession, the cost of claims comes in the form of your annual insurance premium. The lower the number and cost of claims reported by the profession, the lower the annual insurance premium. In other words, reducing claims benefits both you and the profession equally. Understanding these realities is just good, sound business.

The best way to protect yourself against these realities is through proactive action on your part to minimize and even avoid risk. The most significant claims-prone aspect of practice is your relationship with your clients.

The information that follows will help you better understand and prepare yourself for your client relationships.