A current, former or prospective employee can sue a law firm, or any other business entity, at any time. Whether a claim is frivolous or not, the cost of defending it could be considerable.

Although an employer can't stop an employment-related lawsuit from happening, the risks can be minimized once a firm understands the potential exposures and adopts measures to reduce them.

Another protection, Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI), is now being offered by Marsh Affinity Group Services, the ISBA-affiliated insurance administrator.

This coverage specifically protects a law practice against employment-related lawsuits that include discrimination, harassment, slander, defamation and failure to promote.

The Marsh EPLI policy includes broad coverage and front-loaded claims handling and risk management tools, such as training. Marsh also offers a toll-free help line and sample employment policies.

For more information, visit http://www.proliability.com/epli or call (800) 610-6885.

Along with EPLI protection, Marsh suggests that an employer should have affirmative answers to questions such as the following.

Do you have an employee handbook in place and does each employee have a copy of it? Do you have an anti-harassment/discrimination policy in place and are all employees aware of it?

Do you have written employee job descriptions? Do you have formal training in employment practices and written procedures or manuals in place for new hires?

Do you have a diverse workforce? Do you document all hiring, promotional, disciplinary and discharge decisions? Do you have written interview questions and other hiring procedures in place?

Are you or any of your employees trained in equal employment opportunity compliance? Do you have a well-defined management and reporting structure in place?

Do you perform background and reference checks on all employees? Do you have a drug and alcohol testing policy? Do you provide accurate written evaluations to employees on a standard basis?

Do you provide written offers of employment to prospective new hires? Do you send written letters to all rejected applicants informing them of your decision not to hire them?