The Malaysian Bar - 2011/2012 Professional Indemnity Insurance Committee Interim Report

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2011/2012 Professional Indemnity Insurance Committee Interim Report

Wednesday, 23 November 2011 01:42pm

The Professional Indemnity Insurance (“PII”) Committee has met five times since May 2011. Highlights for the term to date include:

(A) PII

(1) 2012 PII policy negotiation

Negotiations for the 2012 PII terms and conditions began in June 2011. We are pleased to report that the 2012 PII premium has been successfully maintained at RM1,200 per lawyer, the same rate as the 2011 premium. The terms and conditions for the 2012 PII scheme were approved at the Bar Council meeting on 13 Aug 2011, and salient details were announced to Members in Circular No 179/2011 (dated 18 Aug 2011).

(2) 2011 Liability Policy Briefing, 17 Mar 2011

The PII Scheme Broker, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Sdn Bhd (“JLT”), conducted a briefing for staff members of the Bar Council Secretariat, state bar committees, legal aid centres and the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board to raise awareness on the coverage provided under the liability policy. This policy is part of Bar Council’s mandatory insurance programme that provides coverage to, inter alia, the aforementioned organisations. The briefing was attended by 36 participants.

(3) My PII Workshop, 17 Mar 2011

Conducted at the Bar Council Secretariat, the My PII Workshop was attended by 18 lawyers and pupils in chambers. Dilsher Singh, Vice-President, JLT, walked the participants through an insightful 1.5-hour presentation. The main purpose of the workshop was to educate participants on the key points of the 2011 Master Policy and Certificate of Insurance.

(4) 2011 PII & RM Survey — “Have Your Say”

Our annual survey was sent (via mail) to all Members with the March–June Jurisk! 2011 issue. The survey is to gather feedback on PII, risk management (“RM”) and our suite of practice tools.

In addition to mailing the survey, our PII and RM Department officers will be visiting the various state bars to engage Members on the scheme and RM, and how we can spur further development. It is our hope that state bars and Members alike will support this endeavour.

(B) Professional Indemnity Fund (“PIF”): Implementation

There has been no development on this issue as the review of the PIF Rules by the Attorney General’s Chambers is still ongoing. To this end, Bar Council has agreed on a three-year agreement (refer to Circular No 179/2011 dated 18 Aug 2011 for the full details) and, to delay the implementation of the PIF until the draft PIF Rules are approved and the relevant structures for the PIF, eg management and administration, can be put in place.

(C) RM

(1) Workshops

(a) Getting Started! Express Workshop, 15 July 2011
Getting Started! Express is a two-session workshop adapted from the original one-day Getting Started! Workshop. Designed to provide outstation Members with a brief overview of the one-day programme, senior lawyers spoke to 41 participants on setting up a law practice and conveyancing practice at the Pahang Bar Auditorium.

The next Getting Started! Workshop is on 20 Oct 2011 (Thursday) in Kuala Lumpur. See Circular No 105/2011 (dated 20 May 2011) for more information.

(b) Risk Management for Staff Workshop, 21 July 2011
Risk Management for Staff, a programme designed specifically to train law firm staff members, was held for the second time in Kuala Lumpur with 52 participants. Attendees included office managers, paralegals and secretaries. Senior lawyers and consultants discussed key topics like office administration, communication and accounting at the Workshop.

Two more Risk Management for Staff Workshops will be organised in 2011, as follows:

29 Sept 2011 (Thursday) at Kedah/Perlis Bar Auditorium, Kedah
(see Circular No 180/2011 dated 19 Aug 2011); and
24 Nov 2011 (Thursday) at Bar Council Auditorium, Kuala Lumpur
(see Circular No 131/2011 dated 22 June 2011).

(2) Jurisk!

In 2011, the feature articles/guides/checklists for Jurisk!, our newsletter, are on file management (March–June), renewals (September) and money (December).

All Members receive Jurisk! (via mail) for free every quarter. Alternatively, the newsletter (PDF format) can be downloaded from:

www.malaysianbar.org.my (see Resource Centre_Downloads_Risk Management); or
www.praktis.com.my (see Risk Management_Practice Tools_Jurisk!).

(3) START

“START”, Bar Council’s first-ever legal starter kit was launched on 16 Feb 2011. Lawyers who apply to set up new firms and first-time lawyers applying for their Sijil Annual/Practising Certificates (wef 1 Jan 2011) will receive a complimentary copy of the START Kit. Aimed at supporting lawyers in their new firms and/or settle in to practice life, the Kit contains information and reference materials on daily practice. Members can also purchase the Kit at RM50 from the Bar Council Secretariat Sales Counter (ground floor).

For more information on PII or the RM programme, kindly contact the PII and RM Department officers, Mysahra Shawkat Ali or Wong Li Chin by telephone at 03-2032 4511 or by email at pirm@malaysianbar.org.my.

Ragunath Kesavan

Chairperson

Professional Indemnity Insurance Committee

Dated 15 Sept 2011

(1) Ragunath Kesavan (Chairperson)

(2) Razlan Hadri Zulkifli (Deputy Chairperson)

Members:

(3) Arthur Wang

(4) Balbir Singh

(5) Dhinesh Bhaskaran

(6) Felix Raj Arokiasamy

(7) G Balakrishnan