Illinois Bar Officials Say Grievance Filings Against Attorneys Are Down While Payouts To Indemnify Victims Of Sleazy Lawyers Are Substantially Up; $3+ Million Payout For 2016 Caps Off Recent 4-Year Total Of About $8-9 Million

In Chicago, Illinois, the Cook County Record reports:

• The Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) recently released its 2016 annual report, which shows the fewest number of grievances since 1988.
  
  According to the ARDC report, people filed 5,401 grievances, which also reflects the fourth year in a row that the number of grievances has gone down.
  
  ***
  The drop in grievances and the fact that every Illinois lawyer had to contribute to the Client Protection Program jumped out at Grogan as highlights in the report.
  
  "All Illinois lawyers paid $25 to a fund called the Client Protection Program," he said. "Every lawyer pays to this indemnity fund, and there's a cap of a million dollars per lawyer and $100,000 per claim."
  
  The ARDC reported that 48 lawyers paid out nearly $3.1 million to cover 146 claims.
  
  "The numbers are so substantial," Grogan said. "I think that's the biggest thing, the big numbers we're dealing with."
  
  Grogan said payouts in the early part of the 2000s were below $1 million, and in 2006, Illinois lawyers paid out $843,000 in awards.
  
  "In the early 2000s, we'd see payouts annually of $800,000, $700,000, $600,000," Grogan said. "And now, for the last couple years, we're seeing a million-dollar plus. The last four years ... (brought) about $8 or $9 million in payout, so a substantial amount."

For the story, see ARDC report shows lowest grievance total since 1988.

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(1) In Illinois, the Client Protection Program was created to help (at least partially) compensate persons who have suffered a loss of money or property due to misappropriation or embezzlement by an Illinois-licensed attorney.

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.  ripoff reimbursement