Tennessee Injury Law Center
The Law Offices of John Day, P.C. recommends that you never hire a lawyer, much less a personal injury lawyer, that does not have insurance to protect you in case the lawyer makes a mistake that causes you harm.
There is no law that requires that a Tennessee personal injury lawyer (or any other type of lawyer in Tennessee) have malpractice insurance coverage. Some lawyers try to save money and not purchase insurance that would protect their clients from loss in the event of a lawyer error.
This is plain stupid and puts you as a client at risk. Lawyers, like everyone else, can make mistakes. Most of those mistakes can be corrected without causing harm to a client, but it is possible that an error cannot be corrected and will result in harm to a client. A responsible lawyer knows that such errors can occur and protects a client from financial loss through the purchase of malpractice insurance.
How do you know if a lawyer has insurance? Ask. If he or she says "yes," they almost certainly have insurance. If you feel uneasy about it, ask the lawyer to confirm the existence of insurance in writing.
If the lawyer says he or she does not have insurance, you need to hire a different lawyer.
The presence of malpractice insurance is one factor you should consider in determining who to hire as your lawyer. For more information, read "Understanding How To Hire A Lawyer In Personal Injury And Wrongful Death Cases."