After the malpractice suit filed against the Shanghai-based Jianwei Law firm in 2001 and the subsequent increase of malpractice suits thereafter, the concept of liability insurance has drawn a considerable amount of attention from both the legal and insurance industries. The Bar Association of Shanghai and some Chinese insurance companies tried to deal with this issue in 2001. However, due to a lack of a definition of who should be responsible for defining the liability of law firms, and the concern of how to prevent lawyers and their clients from conspiring to cheat the insurance companies, the negotiations were not successful. Although presently, there is no form of liability insurance available for lawyers, this issue will surely be dealt with in the future.
