TheLA Times reports on a proposed legal malpractice insurance disclosure rule in California.

"California lawyers will have to tell their clients whether they carry malpractice insurance under a proposed rule that opponents say could add to the costs of going to court.

About 20% of the state’s 150,000 lawyers don’t have malpractice coverage, according to Jim Towery, chairman of the State Bar of California task force that drafted the proposed rule. Towery and others who support the rule said most clients want to know whether a prospective lawyer has insurance, or a history of complaints, but many fail to ask.

Opponents fear that requiring disclosure might effectively force all lawyers to buy such insurance and pass on the costs — up to $9,000 a year — to clients.

Most of those who lack the insurance are sole practitioners who represent accident or consumer fraud victims. "