subject: What Is Professional Liability? [print this page] Negligence or omissions on the part of a service provider that result in bodily injury, death or property damage are the key elements of professional liability. Professional liability holds the provider accountable for the quality of the services that they provide while providing consumers with a means of seeking recourse for damages and injuries. Whether the damages resulted from a negligent act or the failure to provide professional services by leaving out a required procedure (omission), the provider is held responsible for the consequences. Professional liability pertains to most contractual business relationships where services or products are specifically ordered through an individual practitioner or firm.
Professional liability encompasses the occurrences that fail to lie within the scope of general liability due to the nature of the services provided. General liability pertains to personal and bodily injuries or damages that may occur during the natural course of business, and can be attributed to a negligent act or the omission of a proper standard procedure either by the business owner or an employee.
Service professionals such as attorneys, doctors, and engineers have extensive occupational education and training and they are required to maintain the level of integrity and standards of their industry. Industry standards are the authoritative guidelines that define the core values of the profession as well as specific rules of conduct and procedure. Failure to comply or maintain these standards has the potential of rendering the client vulnerable and exposed to risks that the service professional was likely contracted to avoid.
Professional liability at one time was most commonly associated with claims of negligence against doctors and hospitals. Large settlements were awarded in cases of medical malpractice, which brought increased attention to other specialized service providers. Professionals were to be held accountable for the quality of the services that they provided while victims of negligence were now able to seek legal recourse. Industry standards were written and approved by professional authority that were to be used as the uniform guidelines for practice and procedure.
The guidelines that are in place were designed to maintain the quality of professional standards, serve to protect consumers from negligent practices, help protect the providers from frivolous claims and preserve the integrity of the industry.
