Clients’ Security Fund of the D.C. 酒吧
西北第四街901号
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-780-2772
传真:1-866-926-2585
Please read the instructions that follow before downloading the Application for Reimbursement at the bottom of the page.
的 Clients’ Security Fund of the District of Columbia 酒吧 is a trust fund created by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to reimburse clients whose lawyers have dishonestly retained money, 财产, or some other thing of value that belongs to their clients. 的 fund is not authorized to pay claims asserting that a lawyer failed to do a good job representing a client; such malpractice claims can be filed in court. Nor is the fund authorized to pay claims asserting that a client was overcharged by a lawyer. Such fee disputes can be filed with the ACAB’s Fee Arbitration Service. Only dishonest conduct on the part of an attorney can give the fund jurisdiction to pay a claim for reimbursement. Ordinarily, the fund is a fund of last resort. Reimbursement from the fund is discretionary, turning on the equities of the claims presented. As a result, there is no 正确的 to restitution from the fund. 除了, filing a claim with the fund has no effect on the underlying legal matter about which a claimant may originally have consulted a lawyer. 的 claimant remains responsible for addressing such underlying legal matters.
的 规则 governing the Clients’ Security Fund permit the fund to reimburse claims only when the conditions listed below are satisfied:
- 的 lawyer against whom a claim is filed has died, retired, been disbarred or suspended; or the lawyer has been declared by a court to be bankrupt or mentally incompetent; or a court has entered a civil or criminal judgment against a lawyer based upon the alleged dishonest conduct at issue. 的se conditions need not be satisfied if the 董事会 of Governors of the District of Columbia 酒吧 has voted to clarify a claim to the fund.
- When the dishonest conduct occurred, the lawyer was acting as either a lawyer or a fiduciary. A lawyer is someone who represents the legal 正确的s of someone else. A fiduciary is someone who has been entrusted with the obligation to hold money or 财产 for the benefit of someone else. Executors, trustees, escrow holders, and other similar persons are fiduciaries.
- 的钱, 财产, or other things of value for which reimbursement is sought was in the actual or constructive possession of the lawyer.
- 的 loss to the claimant for which reimbursement is sought resulted from dishonest conduct on the part of the lawyer, 比如盗窃, 挪用公款, fraudulent misrepresentation, or other wrongful taking of the claimant’s 财产.
- 的 lawyer was a member of the District of Columbia 酒吧 at the time that the dishonest conduct occurred, and the dishonest conduct had a significant connection with the District of Columbia, because the lawyer’s office or the subject matter of the representation was in the District of Columbia, or because there was some other nexus with the District of Columbia.
- 的 claim arose after April 1, 1972, the date on which the District of Columbia 酒吧 and the Clients’ Security Fund were created.
- 的 claimant recognizes that the fund is only authorized to reimburse up to $100,000 for a single claim.
- 的re is no insurance, bond, or similar fund covering the loss.
- 的 claimant is not disqualified from receiving reimbursement. A claimant is disqualified if the claimant is a spouse, 近亲属, 合作伙伴, or associate of the lawyer; or is an insurer, surety, or bonding agency; or is a business entity controlled by the lawyer or a relative or associate of the lawyer; or is a government entity or agency.
的se conditions summarize the requirements for reimbursement imposed by the 规则 governing the fund. Applicants wishing to see the actual 规则 themselves can obtain copies from the Clients’ Security Fund office. 的 fund is only authorized to pay a claim if the claimant agrees both to assign to the fund any legal 正确的 to reimbursement that the claimant may have against the lawyer resulting from the lawyer’s dishonest conduct, and to cooperate with any efforts that the fund may make to pursue that claim against the lawyer. Any recovery that the fund obtains from the lawyer will be applied to offset payments made by the fund to the claimant and to offset the costs of obtaining the recovery. 的 claimant is entitled to any amounts that the fund may recover from the lawyer in excess of the amount necessary to reimburse the fund for its payment to the claimant and its collection costs.
If you believe that you have a claim that satisfies the conditions for reimbursement, please complete this application, have it verified under oath before a notary public, and return it to the Clients’ Security Fund office. 的 staff of that office is willing to assist you in completing the application. You may also be able to find a lawyer who is willing to help you complete the application, but a lawyer is not permitted to charge you a fee for doing so. Please remember that it can take several months to process an application for reimbursement.
Application for Reimbursement
This is a 5-page, 66 KB PDF document
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