Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection Announces First-Quarter Deadlines for Claims

Michael T. McCormick, director of the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, announced today that any person who intends to file a claim with the Fund against any of the attorneys listed below must file prior to the deadlines listed. 

The Fund’s purpose is to pay on behalf of the honest majority of lawyers for the wrongdoing of a few. For a claim to be eligible, the attorney against whom it is filed must have been a member of the bar, or acting as either attorney or fiduciary, at the time of the incident; and unless deceased, must have been disbarred, suspended, or placed on disability inactive status from the bar, or convicted of embezzlement or other misappropriation of property. The attorney’s conduct giving rise to the claim must have been dishonest rather than negligent. 

The issuance of the Supreme Court’s determination to suspend or disbar an attorney activates the fund’s jurisdiction to receive claims against that attorney. There is a one-year deadline after the discipline is issued to the attorney for clients to file claims. The client’s claim does not need to be included in the ethics determination to be compensable. Discipline of the attorney does not guarantee compensability for any specific claim. Attorneys can be disciplined for conduct other than misappropriation. 

An individual client can receive up to $400,000. The Fund can provide up to $1.5 million in claims against a lawyer. 

A claim form can be found online, or write to the New Jersey Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, P.O. Box 961, Trenton, NJ 08625- 0961, or call 855-533-FUND (3863). The form must be completed, notarized, and returned with copies of any proof of the transaction. There is no filing fee. 

Claimants assisted in their claims by practicing attorneys receive their representation free of charge.

The list of attorneys can be found here.