Alabama State Bar Client Security Fund, 0513 ALBJ, 74 The Alabama Lawyer 166 (2013)

• Author: Michael E. Ballard, Chair, ASB Client Security Fund Committee.

ALABAMA STATE BAR Client Security Fund

Vol. 74 No. 3 Pg. 166

Alabama Bar Lawyer

May 2013

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0After 30 Years, Time to Evaluate and Update

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0 Michael E. Ballard, Chair, ASB Client Security Fund Committee.

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Are you an attorney who flips to the back of The Alabama Lawyer each issue to see who was disciplined, suspended or disbarred?

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0If you answered yes, you are not alone. The actions taken against an attorney’s license and the facts behind them are often sensational and widely discussed in the legal community.^[1]

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Next question: When you read about these attorneys, do you ever wonder what happened to their clients? What happens to the clients of an attorney who unexpectedly passes away? After all, not all attorneys have partners or a firm to carry on the client’s work. While such events involve only a small percentage of otherwise hard-working, dedicated and ethical practitioners, the damage inflicted on the clients of that few reflect negatively on the profession as a whole.

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0A limited resource

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Since approximately 1983, the Alabama State Bar has been working on such matters and putting into place a revised and renewed Client Security Fund Committee. For the last 30 years, the Client Security Fund Committee has been there to help reimburse clients who have been victimized by dishonest attorneys or whose attorney unexpectedly passed away. However, the fund is a limited resource for clients who have been victims of theft or defalcation, including the taking of the fee without rendering any service, and only provides some compensation when no other practical remedy is available. For the years 1983 through 2011, the work of the committee was supported solely by a $100 contribution from each attorney then practicing and every new attorney.

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Experienced attorneys are not the exception

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0When the committee first started reviewing applications for reimbursement, there was a general assumption by committee members that they would be seeing a high percentage of complaints against relatively new attorneys. This was one of the original reasons contributions were limited to the first four years of practice of all new attorneys...