Clients' Security Fund

By Stephanie Beougher - March 13, 2014

There are more than 40,000 attorneys actively practicing law in Ohio, and an overwhelming majority of them observe high standards of integrity when it comes to handling their client's money.

For the one-tenth of one percent who do not, there's the Clients' Security Fund of Ohio.

"The clients' security fund was established in 1985 by the Supreme Court of Ohio with the purpose of improving the image of the legal profession by reimbursing those law clients who have sustained losses of money or property as a result of their dishonest lawyer," Clients' Security Fund Administrator Janet Green Marbley said.

She added that the fund is supported entirely by attorney registration fees.

For the past 28 years, more than $18 million have been reimbursed to victims of dishonest lawyers. In the latest quarterly release of funds, the Board of Commissioners of the Clients' Security Fund voted to reimburse 22 victims of attorney theft more than $100,000.

"The majority of claims that we investigate and that are reimbursed are what we call unearned fee claims and those are situations where clients pay a fee to their lawyer for the services to be provided and the lawyer fails to provide the services," Marbley said.

Clients who believe they have lost money because of attorney misconduct should contact the fund to file a claim at 614.387.9390 or 800.231.1680.