Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection Warns of Suspended Attorney Soliciting Clients

The New Jersey Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection returned $250,201 to claimants in the third quarter of 2024, including $56,300 to two former clients of a Jersey City attorney who was suspended from the practice of law by the New Jersey Supreme Court on Aug. 21, 2023.

Santo V. Artusa Jr.’s former clients continue to file claims with the Fund, alleging that he solicited retainer payments from them on multiple occasions, some as recently as August 2024. Although Artusa’s Jersey City law office is closed, clients allege that Artusa has contacted them online asking for money to work on various legal matters. The Supreme Court’s suspension order bars Artusa from practicing law and representing law clients in any New Jersey forum.  The Fund’s trustees have asked law enforcement agencies to intervene and caution the public about Artusa’s alleged unauthorized practice of law. 

The trustees also approved claims against four other New Jersey lawyers. The largest amount -- $214,701 – was stolen by Martin S. Fishman from the proceeds of a real estate transaction. The majority of the awards paid between July and September 2024 – a total of $35,500 – arose from the dishonest retention of unearned retainers. In these cases, attorneys were paid a fee but failed to perform the services for which they were paid. Two more unearned retainer claims in cases involved James R. Lisa of Jersey City, which brings to 17 the number of such claims against him, totaling $24,300, since his arrest in July 2023. Lisa subsequently pleaded guilty to federal charges of stealing $2 million from one of his clients and is serving a 66-month prison sentence. 

Just one-half of one percent of the state’s lawyers ever become the subjects of approved claims before the Fund. The Fund’s trustees, who are seven volunteers appointed by the Supreme Court, use funds contributed annually by New Jersey’s attorneys to reimburse victimized clients. No tax dollars are used in support of either claim awards or the Fund’s administration. 

The Fund was created by the New Jersey State Bar Association in 1961 and, at the Bar’s request, was expanded by the Supreme Court in 1969 to cover all New Jersey attorneys. There are 99,349 lawyers admitted to practice in New Jersey. In its 55-year history, the Fund has paid 4,923 claims against 904 New Jersey attorneys in a total amount of $99,489,223.50.  The Fund requires repayment by respondents as well as other culpable parties and to date has recovered $26,830,521.04.

Court Rule 1:28 defines the Fund’s jurisdiction. A claimant can receive up to $400,000 if the claim is approved, and the Fund can pay up to $1.5 million in claims against any one lawyer, although the Supreme Court can allow the Fund to exceed the $1.5 million aggregate limit. For a claim to be compensable, it must be filed against a member of the New Jersey bar who was acting as an attorney or fiduciary at the time of the alleged incident. Unless deceased, the attorney must have been disbarred or suspended from the bar or convicted of embezzlement or other misappropriation of property. Cases involving legal malpractice, negligence or fee disputes are not compensable by the Fund. 

Claim forms can be found online at https://www.njcourts.gov/public/get-help/lfcp or by writing to the New Jersey Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, P.O. Box 961, Trenton, NJ 08625, or by calling 855-533-FUND (3863). There is no filing fee and claimants assisted in their claims by practicing attorneys receive this assistance free of charge. The Fund welcomes inquiries about its mission and procedures. 

Attached is the third-quarter 2024 list of claims paid with the status of each respondent attorney under the Supreme Court disciplinary system.