One Canadian Crooked Lawyers' Victim Reimbursement Fund Boosts Max Payout To $500K Per Screwed Over Client Fleeced By Dishonest Attorneys; Bar To Cover Higher Cap By Clipping Province Attorneys Add'l $18/Year

In Toronto, Ontario, the Times Colonist reports:

• Anyone cheated by a lawyer in Ontario will now be eligible for up to $500,000 in compensation, more than triple the previous limit, the body that regulates the profession has decided.
  
  In recommending the higher cap, a committee of the Law Society of Upper Canada tasked with the issue noted the last increase was in 2008, at which the time the limit was set at $150,000.(1)
  
  "In light of the over eight years that have elapsed since the last increase and acknowledging the mandate of the law society to govern in the public interest, the committee determined that an increase in the per claimant limit is appropriate at this time, notwithstanding the infrequency with which claims exceeding the limit are likely to arise," the committee concluded.
  
  Between Feb. 1, 2014, and Aug. 31, 2016, the fund doled out almost $7.5 million to 260 claimants, law society figures show.
  
  The highest payout during that period — almost $1.4 million — went to 35 clients of Javad Heydary, a Toronto lawyer who took money from trust accounts before he fled to Iran in late 2013 and likely died there.
  
  Another 10 clients of Richard Chojnacki, a lawyer from Mississisauga, Ont., received $1.08 million. His licence was revoked in October 2010 and he was jailed in 2012 after pleading guilty to fraud for embezzling money from clients.
  
  The society established the fund in 1953 to compensate clients who lose money due to their lawyer's dishonesty. Errors and omissions insurance, which covers negligent conduct, does not cover dishonest conduct, such as theft.
  
  "The legal profession is considered unique in protecting clients from dishonesty in this fashion," its report states.
  
  Claims in other provinces vary widely. For example, Nova Scotia has no limit while Quebec's is set at $100,000. A survey of "client protection funds" in the United States also showed wide variance in programs, ranging from limits of $50,000 to $400,000.
  
  To cover the higher cap approved this week, the society's 35,000 practising lawyers will have to pay another $18 a year, bringing their levy to $290.
  
  People ripped off by paralegals can get as much as $10,000 — an unchanged amount. The fund paid 37 clients of paralegals $85,640 from February 2014 to the end of last month.

Source: Cap on crooked lawyers fund in Ontario raised to $500K per claimant.

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(1) The Compensation Fund of the Law Society of Upper Canada helps clients who have lost money because of the dishonesty of a lawyer or paralegal practicing in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is paid for exclusively by the lawyers and paralegals of Ontario, out of their own pockets. Over the years it has paid out millions of dollars to help clients.

If you've lost money due to a lawyer or paralegal's dishonesty, the fund can reimburse you for all or part of your loss. Typically, the fund will pay for losses involving money from estates, from trust funds held for real estate closings and from settlements in legal actions. The fund doesn't reimburse in cases dealing with negligence.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that sometimes help cover the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other Canadian provinces or in the states throughout the United States, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (includes U.S. & Canadian recovery funds, courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.

Maps available courtesy of The National Client Protection Organization, Inc.