Professional Services

Specialized insurance brokerage and risk advisory services for law, accounting, consulting, and business advisory firms.

Leading a professional services firm is challenging and those accountable for managing and transferring risk face a range of threats, both traditional and emerging.

Professional services firms operate in a complex and evolving risk environment.

Law, accounting, consulting, and business advisory firms provide services and deliver advice in matters shaped by changing client needs, external pressures, and multiple stakeholders. These firms recognize how quickly their risk profile can change as they expand the scope and breath of their offerings, the types of clients they serve, and their geographic reach.

Professional services firms are also subject to heightened regulatory, political, and social scrutiny. Clients, regulators, and other third parties increasingly demand high standards of performance, transparency, and accountability. Where expectations are not met, claims may arise, leading to financial exposure and reputational harm. Managing this reputational risk is critical to maintaining client trust and attracting and retaining top talent.

At the same time, professional services firms face elevated and emerging risk, including social inflation, rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, climate-related impacts, state-sponsored cyber threats, geopolitical instability, and supply chain disruption. Navigating this environment requires a forward-looking, adaptable risk strategy that supports continued innovation and growth.

Howden’s dedicated team of specialists support professional services firms of all sizes, structures, and geographies. We work with clients to design robust and resilient risk management and insurance strategies that help anticipate change, protect value, and respond effectively to future challenges.

We help firms manage their people and business risks through our strong industry knowledge and expertise in placing and servicing all insurance products of relevance to professional services firms.

Professional liability
Financial loss protection for firms and individuals against claims arising from professional services. This insurance is commonly referred to as errors & omissions (E&O).
Cyber
Responds when systems or client data are compromised, helping manage disruption and the resulting impact.
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Financial lines
Protects firms and their leadership from financial losses from management decisions, employment issues, and other exposures. Coverages include management liability/directors & officers (D&O) liability, employment practices liability (EPL), fiduciary liability, and crime.
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General liability, workers’ compensation, and automobile
Core operational coverages addressing physical risks to people and property.
Umbrella and excess liability
Steps in when claims exceed primary coverage on certain business insurances.
Property, to include business interruption
Covers damage that shuts down operations, helping recover and replace lost income.
Partner & employee benefits
Coverages include health & welfare, leave consulting, income protection (life & disability), voluntary solutions, group and key person life, group personal liability, and accident & health.

Why choose us? The Howden Difference

We provide expert insurance brokerage and risk advisory services in a unified approach that helps professional services firms think and execute around risk-based strategies.

Advice and execution are not separate stages; insight directly determines how programs are structured and placed.

We don’t default to last year’s approach or a standard renewal process; we reassess based on how our client’s business and risk profile are evolving.

Transactions are shaped by judgment, not dictated by tools, models, or templates.

Senior leaders are active participants in all aspects of our client service delivery, shaping strategy, structure, and execution throughout the relationship.

We bring intellectual rigor, creativity, and practical judgment to every decision, especially when there’s no obvious answer.

Clients work with experienced teams that have seen complexity before and know how to navigate it calmly and confidently. Our teams draw on lessons learned across jurisdictions, industries, and claims environments.

We prioritize early involvement, insurer relationships, and breadth of coverage to reduce uncertainty and maximize claim recoveries.

Effective claims advocacy is achieved through technical expertise, market leverage and insurer relationships, nurtured and developed prior to claims reporting.

Clients gain confidence knowing claims are managed by people who understand coverage, liability/exposure, as well as the short and long-term financial and reputational impact on the firm.

Howden connects firms to U.S., London, Bermuda, and global specialty markets while keeping clear U.S. leadership and accountability close to each client.

With direct access to all major international insurance markets, we leverage our market relationships to create solutions across all lines of insurance coverage.

Global access expands options; thoughtful insights facilitate the decision.

Howden is centered around deep specialization, enabling us to readily understand our law, accounting, consulting, and business advisory firm clients’ needs. Our capabilities include:

Program design
We structure programs to optimize claims performance. Other brokers focus on premium costs at the expense of claims outcomes.
Claims advocacy
Our claims advocates are fully embedded in the end-to-end client service process, offering proactive claims advice and advocacy.
Market execution
With direct access to global specialty markets, we drive insurers to deliver solutions that meet our client’s specific needs and expand their options.
Contract review
We review insurance requirements in client contracts to evaluate coverage needs and identify potential gaps.

Featured articles

Ready to talk?

Speak with a Howden professional services specialist to review coverage and discuss where risk may be developing within your firm.

Jerry Guterl
Chairman, Professional Services
Jerry Guterl
Chairman, Professional Services
Miguel DaSilva
Head of Professional Services
Miguel DaSilva
Head of Professional Services
Based in New York, Miguel leads a specialist advisory practice serving accounting, consulting, and professional services firms facing complex and evolving risk exposures. He advises on professional liability, management liability, and cyber risk, and he helps clients respond to social inflation, regulatory scrutiny, and emerging risks such as those linked to generative AI.

Miguel has more than 25 years of experience across audit and global insurance brokerage, and he takes a senior-led, claims-focused approach and supports clients operating across domestic and international markets. He evaluates risk through a financial, operational, and governance lens, with a clear understanding of the internal controls and professional standards that define leading global firms.
Douglas Sifert
Managing Director, Law Firms
Douglas Sifert
Managing Director, Law Firms
Doug Sifert joined Howden in September 2025 and is based in Pennsylvania. He serves as the Growth and Strategy Leader of Professional Services for Howden U.S. and brings over 23 years of insurance carrier experience with a focus on underwriting, client relations, business strategies, operations, and data and analytics to the firm. In his role, he is responsible for leading the growth and strategy of the Professional Services team.

Before joining Howden, Doug had a distinguished career in the underwriting sector. He was the Head of Professions E&O for Vantage, where he played a leading role in launching the company's Professions and Cyber practices. Prior to that, as a founding member of the Professional Liability and Cyber teams at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty, he served as Senior Vice President of Professional Liability and Head of Lawyers Professional. While at Berkshire, Sifert oversaw law firm and accounting firm underwriting for North America and underwrote large miscellaneous errors and omissions and cyber liability as well as management liability and employment practices liability risks for professional services firms. He also spent time at Aspen Specialty and Liberty International Underwriters where he focused on E&O for a variety of industries. He began his career at Hooghuis Inc., an MGA specializing in miscellaneous and technology E&O.

Doug holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Business Administration from the University at Albany. He is also a Registered Professional Liability Underwriter (RPLU+), Cyber Professional Liability Practitioner (CPLP), and an Executive Lines Professional Liability Practitioner (ExecPLP).
Justin Kesner
Managing Director, Middle Market Law Firms
Justin Kesner
Managing Director, Middle Market Law Firms

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Professional Services

Leading a professional services firm is challenging and those accountable for managing and transferring risk face a range of threats, both traditional and emerging.