The Bar Plan

Karen McCarthy serves as President and CEO, overseeing both underwriting and claims operations. The firm's organizational structure places underwriting authority within the executive team rather than delegating to an external managing general agent. Claims handling is managed in-house, which is standard for mono-line professional-liability carriers that want direct control over loss-adjustment expenses and settlement authority.

The Bar Plan is structured as a mutual insurance company, meaning it is owned by its policyholders rather than by external shareholders. This structure aligns the carrier's interests with those of its attorney-policyholders, since there is no tension between shareholder return requirements and claims-paying obligations. The mutual structure also means the firm does not disclose public-equity-market metrics like earnings per share or return on equity.

Yes, The Bar Plan writes ancillary lines that serve the operational needs of law firms, including cyber liability insurance, employment practices liability insurance, and business owners' policies. These lines are complementary to the core professional-liability book and are typically cross-sold to existing policyholders. The firm does not underwrite non-attorney professional liability, general commercial lines, or personal lines.

The Missouri Bar founded The Bar Plan in 1985 and remains its exclusive endorser for professional liability insurance. This means every Missouri-licensed attorney is directed to The Bar Plan as the bar association's recommended malpractice carrier. The relationship is a formal endorsement arrangement, not a joint venture or subsidiary structure — The Bar Plan operates as an independent mutual insurer with its own management and board.

The Bar Plan's investment portfolio appears limited to publicly traded fixed-income securities and common stocks, consistent with the regulatory requirements and liquidity needs of a property-casualty insurance carrier. There is no public evidence of allocations to private equity, venture capital, or hedge fund strategies. The firm's capital base exists to meet state-mandated reserve requirements for policyholder claims, not to pursue risk-asset returns.

The Bar Plan Foundation operates as a philanthropic and educational affiliate of the insurance company, focusing on risk-management education and continuing legal education programming for attorneys. Chris Stiegemeyer, the carrier's Director of Risk Management, runs the Foundation's educational outreach. The Foundation's loss-prevention curriculum serves a dual purpose: it fulfills a professional-education mission while reducing claims frequency for the insurance carrier.