The Supreme Court of Ohio Clients' Security Fund has released its 2013 annual report.

The Supreme Court of Ohio Clients' Security Fund has released its 2013 annual report.

A decision to review more claims in Fiscal Year 2013 resulted in reimbursing 19 percent more money to victims of attorney theft compared to Fiscal Year 2012, according to the Clients’ Security Fund of Ohio annual report released today. The fund awarded more than $1.1 million in FY13, versus nearly $930,000 in FY12.

In her introductory letter, Board of Commissioners Chair Sally W. Cuni wrote that the board decided to review more claims at each quarterly meeting “in an effort to reduce the amount of time between when a claim is filed and when a final determination is made.”

The 215 claims reviewed and 168 deemed eligible for reimbursement resulted from the dishonest conduct of 55 attorneys. The fund also determined that 10 attorney fee applications were eligible for reimbursement of $2,655 in attorney fees.

Other statistics from the report include:

• 163 claimants received 100 percent reimbursement of their losses.
• 45 claims were ruled ineligible.
• 5 claimants received the maximum ($75,000) award amount.

The fund seeks to support public confidence in the legal profession by reimbursing law clients for losses sustained as a result of the dishonest conduct of their attorneys. The attorneys who were cited for dishonest conduct represent less than 1 percent of the 43,897 active Ohio attorneys.

The fund – created in 1985 by Gov. Bar R. VIII of the Supreme Court Rules for the Government of the Bar – is supported entirely from the Attorney Registration Fund, and does not receive any tax revenues. Since its inception, the fund has allocated more than $18.4 million to 2,419 former law clients.

View the report.

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