THE EVENTS of 9/11 altered life for many in the insurance industry, but it probably changed us more than most. Our office is located just a few blocks from where the World Trade Center stood, so the happenings of that awful day remain vivid for us even four years later.

But 9/11 did more than hit us on an emotional level; it also changed the way we did business. A.P.P.L.E.–the abbreviation stands for A Preferred Professional Liability Enterprise–started life in 1990 as a program administrator and wholesale broker. My business partner, Deborah Gallo DiMarco, and I had careers as professional liability underwriters before starting the business. As program administrators, we held the pen for a number of London markets, including Lloyd's, CNA Re and Zurich U.K. In that capacity, we underwrote submissions from retail agents and brokers for lawyers professional liability insurance, nonprofit D&O and employment practices liability insurance. After 9/11, however, reinsurance for our programs dried up, and we had little choice but to become retail brokers ourselves.

Today we have a staff of 10; five of us, including Debbie and I, are involved in production. We now focus solely on legal malpractice insurance, having about 900 policyholders. They range in size from sole practitioners to firms with 40 to 50 lawyers. We write most of our business in New York and New Jersey, and we are beginning to enter the Pennsylvania market.