Zurich said that it is working with Sonoma Risk Insurance Agency to offer attorneys’ fees insurance program in the US plaintiff contract litigation insurance (PCLI).

According to Zurich, the PCLI is designed to insure a plaintiff in a contractual lawsuit against the risk of paying attorneys’ fees for adversary, if unsuccessful in prosecuting their contract claim. The program allows plaintiffs to apply for a policy any time within the first 60 days of filing the underlying lawsuit with policy coverage period matching the duration of litigation.

The company said that the program enables Zurich and Sonoma Risk to help lawyers mitigate their clients’ financial exposure. It is an additional tool which enables attorneys to help manage their client’s costs and minimize the unknown risks in litigation.

Craig Fundum, president of programs and direct markets at Zurich North America Commercial, said: “We anticipate this new program will provide plaintiffs with added budgeting certainty for their litigation by decreasing one of the significant unknown financial exposures in contract litigation.”

Kevin Martin, founder and CEO of Sonoma Risk, said: “Attorneys do their best to thoroughly assess the strengths, weaknesses, positions and uncertainties of their clients’ cases. Discussing our program with a client serves to support these and other important best practices since it further helps attorneys protect their clients from financial exposure.”