Ken Hodges, president of the State Bar of Georgia, sent the Daily Report the following response to a commentary by Marietta lawyer Alan Levine criticizing a proposal to require Georgia lawyers to buy malpractice insurance.

“We certainly invite all views and welcome all feedback on the proposal of mandatory professional liability insurance. This issue will not come to a vote during the Board of Governor's meeting in June,” wrote Hodges, who is a judge on the state Court of Appeals.

“For many of the reasons Mr. Levine identified, I appointed a diverse committee of Georgia lawyers, chaired by Linley Jones, to look at this issue and to see what has been done nationally. Of the 15 practicing attorneys on the Professional Liability Insurance Committee, six represent large law firms. The other nine include five solo practitioners and four from small firms. All are highly involved in, or very familiar with, professional liability and insurance matters. They include plaintiff and defense lawyers who handle malpractice cases. Several members practice criminal law, the main area Mr. Levine believes will be adversely affected. State Bar President-Elect Darrell Sutton is committed to continuing the conversation and the work of the special committee researching and vetting all possible outcomes of this issue.

“In addition to the committee studying all aspects of mandatory professional liability insurance, I have directly asked for input while speaking at a number of large attorney gatherings. In the April issue of the Georgia Bar Journal, I devoted my president's column to the subject and directly asked for input. Ms. Jones and I have attended an ABA meeting on the issue as well. All State Bar members will be surveyed and given a chance to provide input and feedback before the proposal comes to the Board of Governors for a vote, which will not be done until the appropriate time when all concerns have been heard and vetted. A lot has been done but clearly there is a lot more to do and we are committed to doing just that. In the end, it is my hope that we will do what is right for Georgia lawyers and clients.”