NJ Bar Announces 'Last Call' For Claims From Victimized Clients Ripped Off By 15 Recently-Disciplined Attorneys

From the Office of the New Jersey Courts:

• Daniel R. Hendi, director of the [New Jersey] Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, has announced that any person who intends to file a claim with the fund against any of the attorneys listed below must file prior to the deadlines listed.
  
  The fund’s purpose is to pay on behalf of the honest majority of [New Jersey-licensed] lawyers for the wrongdoing of a few.(1) For a claim to be eligible, the attorney against whom it is filed must have been a member of the bar, acting as either attorney or fiduciary, at the time of the incident; and unless deceased, must have been disbarred, suspended or placed on disability inactive status from the bar, or convicted of embezzlement or other misappropriation of property. The attorney’s conduct giving rise to the claim must have been dishonest rather than negligent.
  
  The issuance of the Supreme Court’s determination to suspend or disbar an attorney activates the fund’s jurisdiction to receive claims against that attorney. There is a one-year deadline after the discipline is issued to the attorney for clients to file claims. The client’s claim does not need to be included in the ethics determination to be compensable. Discipline of the attorney does not guarantee compensability for any specific claim. Attorneys can be disciplined for conduct other than misappropriation.
  
  An individual client can receive up to $400,000. The fund can provide up to $1.5 million in claims against a lawyer.
  
  To receive a claim form, write to the New Jersey Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, P.O. Box 961, Trenton, NJ 08625-0961, or call 855-533-FUND (3863). The form must be completed, notarized and returned with copies of any proof of the transaction. There is no filing fee. Claimants assisted in their claims by practicing attorneys receive their representation free of charge.
  
  Any person having a claim that has not been filed involving the following attorneys must file a claim with the New Jersey Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection prior to the deadline dates indicated below:
  
  NAME        COUNTY OF PRACTICE       DEADLINE
  
  Buckley, Christopher J., Hudson, October 21, 2017
  Collins, John J., Hudson, October 21, 2017
  Field, Arthur M., Out of State (FL), November 10, 2017
  Kusnirik, Andrew Michael III, Mercer, November 7, 2017
  Malanga, Anthony F. Jr., Union, October 20, 2017
  Mandale, Michael Z., Out of State (PA), December 7, 2017
  Noonan, Gregory R., Camden, October 14, 2017
  Paragano, John O., Union, December 16, 2017
  Rubin, Merrill N., Out of State (NY), December 7, 2017
  Scher, William G., Passaic, November 9, 2017
  Sison, Victor G., Hudson, December 16, 2017
  Smith, Nestor, Atlantic, November 4, 2017
  Suarez-Silverio, Arturo S., Essex, November 1, 2017
  Tosi, Lawrence G., Passaic, November 1, 2017
  Weichsel, John L., Bergen, December 16, 2017

Source: Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection Announces Deadlines for Claims.

----------------------

(1) For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that sometimes help cover the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other states and Canada, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (February 2017) (includes 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.