Frequently Asked Questions

Why do police, firefighters and EMT’s need legal protection?
Government entities purchase legal liability insurance to cover their acts. These plans are designed to protect the entity. Legal protection plans protect the employee when they may be singled out for administrative, civil or criminal actions. They serve as an advocate to provide expert advice for the employer.

What is an administrative hearing?
An administrative hearing is a non-judicial investigation or action brought by an employer, a governmental office, board, commission or agency to determine whether to remove, reprimand, demote, suspend or discharge an employee for conduct that occurred while the employee was working for an employer.

What is a civil proceeding?
Broadly speaking, a civil proceeding is a judicial action brought by people or entities against other people or entities that seeks the recovery of damages for alleged wrongful conduct or the failure to act.

How would criminal charges be defended?
Under the FRLI criminal proceedings coverage, if an insured is the subject of criminal proceedings and not being defended by his/her employer, a defense will be provided to the insured for the proceedings up to the limits of liability purchased subject to various conditions. If the insured purchases the choice of counsel option, he/she may proceed with the retention of his/her own counsel subject to oversight by FRLI’s national counsel, Wilson Elser to ensure the insured is being defended vigorously and efficiently. If counsel is not selected through the choice of counsel option, qualified counsel will be retained by Wilson Elser to represent the insured. All privileged and confidential information will remain privileged and confidential.

What if I have questions about how I should respond? (Hot line, customer service)?
Through the Toll Free Hotline option, an insured has access to qualified, knowledgeable Wilson Elser attorneys who are there to assist with common issues related to the coverages provided by your FRLI policy to help you understand how the Plan can work to protect you from the cost of defending civil, criminal and/or administrative proceedings arising from your performance of your duties as a public servant, etc. The Hotline option will provide you with two free hours of consultation and all messages will be returned within 24 hours of the initial inquiry.

When am I covered?
Overall coverage will depend on which elements of the FRLI plan are purchased, however the FRLI base insurance plan covers you for legal costs and related expenses in criminal, civil or administrative proceedings, up to the applicable limits of liability, for claims arising out of your performance of you job duties when an employer and/or its insurer, or any other relevant party, will not otherwise provide you with a legal defense. Optional additional coverage include those for: contracted employment (moonlighting); retired employees, employer issued firearms; good Samaritan actions; benevolent benefits and accident insurance.

How would I handle it if I agreed to provide services to an outside group that is not my employer?
Through FRLI’s contracted employee coverage, you can purchase coverage for defense costs associated with civil, administrative and criminal actions that result from your employment with a person or entity other than your public employer. The FRLI contracted employee plan will defend you when your public employer or contracted employer and/or their insurers will not otherwise provide you with a legal defense.

Top legal exposures faced by police officers.

- Slander or Defamation (Civil)
- Constitutional violations resulting from flawed search warrants (Civil)
- Arrest and Investigate Detentions (Civil)
- Domestic Incident Interventions (Civil)
- Emergency Vehicle Operation (Civil)
- Failure to adequately train subordinates (Administrative)
- Negligent Hiring (Administrative)
- Failure to Direct/ Negligent Assignment (Administrative)
- Negligent retention (Administrative)
- Negligent entrustment (Administrative)
- Use of force (Criminal)
- Acting outside the scope of their duties (Criminal)
- Failing to heed general orders, resulting in injury to a citizen (Criminal)

Top Legal Exposures faced by EMS Providers (includes Firefighters) On Duty
- Malpractice (direct patient care negligence of all varieties) (Civil, Criminal, and Administrative consequences)
- Vehicle collisions
- During emergency operation (lights & sirens) (Civil, Criminal, and Administrative consequences)
- During non-emergency operations (without lights & sirens)
- Negligence: Improper use of lights & sirens
- Transfer of Care (Civil, Criminal, and Administrative consequences)(differentiate from direct patient care negligence)
- Improper Transfer from Paramedics to Basic or Intermediate EMTs
- Improper Transfer from Physician or Mobile Intensive Care Registered Nurses to Paramedics (some overlap with other exposures)
- Failure of Basic or Intermediate EMTs to call/request Paramedics
- Arguably proper transfer from Paramedic to Basic or Intermediate EMT; errors made after transfer of care.
- Property Damage (Civil, Criminal, and Administrative consequences)
- Accidental - Natural result of result of rescue, Negligent property damage
- Intentional
- Navigation/Facility Selection (Civil and Administrative consequences)
- Getting lost on the way to the scene or hospital
- Selecting the wrong receiving facility
- Selecting the wrong transport modality - Ground vs. Air, Aircraft crash, Aircraft failure - ALS vs. BLS
- Administrative Actions (Administrative consequences only)
- Protocol Violations
- Functioning outside scope of practice or medical control -Justifiable, Malicious
- Functioning contrary to established agency/departmental policy
- Disaster Response
- System failures during disaster response
- Triage failures during disaster response
- Treatment failures during disaster response
- Transport (modality/destination) failures during disaster response
- Interpersonal Issues
- Harassment
- Civil rights claims
- Claims of Inappropriate Conduct by Patients (Civil, Criminal, and Administrative consequences)
- Sexual misconduct
- Sexual innuendo (Administrative consequences)
- Physical Abuse
- Verbal Abuse (Administrative consequences)

Top Legal Exposures faced by EMS Providers Off Duty
- Normal claims covered under good Samaritan laws
- Practicing medicine without a license
- Exceeding scope of practice
- Operating outside medical control

- Criminal minal conduct [DUI, public intoxication, possession of marijuana, etc...](RE: the Administrative consequences)
- Off-the-job civil claims (RE: the Administrative consequences)
- Off-the-job traffic infractions (RE: the Administrative consequences)

Administrative refers to both Agency/Department/Company discipline and actions by State and Local EMS regulatory agencies.

How do I contact you?

The best way to reach us is by email to info@firstresponderlegalinsurance.com. We also may be reached by telephone at 516-933-1800 or by fax to 516-933-7777.