“Malpractice & Ethical Perils for Law Firms to Avoid,” will be presented by Florida Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company’s Cathy M. Sargent, Esq., Executive Vice President & COO, and Margaret “Peggy” Hewitt, Esq., Resources and Services Manager, and moderated by Renée E. Thompson, Upchurch Watson White & Max. Live GoToWebinar. Course number 5406. Approved for 1.0 General; 1.0 Ethics CLE credit. Section members register for only $50. REGISTER
Even the best lawyers can be sued for malpractice, and in our litigious environment, lawyers can face a number of risks from clients due to real or perceived errors. No one single error accounts for the majority of claims against attorneys from a myriad of possibilities: substantive law error, administrative mistakes, client relations faux pas, and intentional wrongs are at the top. Join Florida Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company’s Executive Vice President & COO Cathy M. Sargent and Resources and Services Manager Peggy Hewitt to understand from where and why claims happen to help you take proactive steps to reduce the likelihood a claim will be successfully made against you.
Cathy M. Sargent is Executive Vice President & COO of Florida Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, responsible for overseeing the Company’s day-to-day operations.
Prior to joining FLMIC, Ms. Sargent led for 34 years at Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company of California, serving as Vice President of Development and Outreach, Vice President of Underwriting & Marketing, and General Counsel for Claims. She was a founding member of the California Lawyers Association Lawyer Well-Being Committee, reflecting a personal passion for lawyer well-being and personal and professional happiness — a passion she brings to FLMIC in furtherance of our commitment to serving our member lawyers.
Additionally, Ms. Sargent served as a guest speaker at the international 2019 NABRICO conference. She is currently a nominee for the ABA Standing Committee on professional liability insurance.
Ms. Sargent is a graduate of the Loyola Law School, where she worked in the Domestic Violence Clinic and served as Certified Student District Attorney, a trial advocate, and as a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals extern. After graduating with a Juris Doctorate, she served as defense counsel in a California law firm handling legal malpractice claims and coverage disputes. Prior to entering law school, Ms. Sargent graduated Magna Cum Laude from Loyola Marymount, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and was recognized as part of the University Honors Program during each of her four years. While enrolled at Loyola Marymount, she served as Vice President of Tri Sigma and was a member of distinguished scholarship society Alpha Sigma Nu.
Before coming to Florida Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, Margaret “Peggy” Hewitt, Esq. was a 20-year partner of Jones, Hurley & Hand, P.A. Before joining a law firm, Ms. Hewitt was in-house counsel for the Walt Disney Company; before Disney, she was Counsel to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and an Assistant State Attorney. Her practice experience included over 120 jury trials, and countless administrative hearings and appeals in the areas of Insurance Defense, Employment and Labor Law, and Workers’ Compensation. She has been designated an “AV” Peer Review Rated Lawyer by Martindale Hubbell.
Ms. Hewitt has an extensive library of articles and advisories for legal and risk management publications, including the National Retail and Restaurant Defense Association News and LinkedIn. Her Florida Bar CLE manuals and presentations include “Trying a Difficult Liability Case in Florida.” She has been an accredited CEU presenter for the Florida Department of Finance since 2002, has created and presented dozens of Power Point assisted seminars both for the CEU Institute and for her self-insured and self-administering clients, and has presented at the ABA Annual Conference and the NRRDA National Conference.
Ms. Hewitt was raised in Florida. She received her BA in History and Music from the University of Florida in 1980, while working full time and participating in the UF Band. She also earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida in 1983. She was recently nominated by the City of Winter Park Chamber of Commerce for Volunteer of the Year, for her years on the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival Committee as their Entertainment Committee Director.
321-663-9017
peggyh@FLMIC.com
