Compensation For Those Ripped Off By NJ Attorneys May Go Up To $400K

According to a story in the publication New Jersey Lawyer, the New Jersey Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection is sitting on a record $18 million surplus. The fund represents money that is available to victims who have been ripped off by a New Jersey attorney. The fund is financed by clipping the estmated 50,000 New Jersey attorneys $50 per year in assessments. Reportedly, the New Jersey State Bar Association for years has pressed unsuccessfully to eliminate the annual assesment of its members. According to the story:

• Since 1996, the fund's payouts to clients ripped off by unscrupulous lawyers have been limited to $250,000 per victim and a total $1 million per lawyer. Currently, the New Jersey Supreme Court, at the fund's request, is considering increasing the caps to $400,000 and $2 million.

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• "As long as the fund is telling people who've been hurt by a lawyer that they can't get all their money back, the notion of removing the assessment is simply misguided," [Kenneth J. Bossong, the fund's director] said.

For more, see Fat surplus but no break for lawyers.

For those ripped off by New York attorneys, see The Lawyers Fund for Client Protection of the State of New York.

For other states, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (American Bar Association - July, 2007); or
• try here (for a "Google search").