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Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection may provide financial reimbursement

Deadlines have been set for people who intend to file a claim with the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection stemming from dealings with any of the 18 dishonest New Jersey attorneys, Daniel R. Hendi, the fund’s director, announced Monday.

The fund’s purpose is to pay on behalf of honest lawyers for the wrongdoing of attorneys who have been suspended or disbarred for misappropriation.

For a claim to be compensable, 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 or suspended 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.

There is a one-year deadline after the discipline is issued to the attorney for clients to file claims. The claim does not need to be included in the ethics determination in order 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 for claims arising after Jan.1, 2007, lesser amounts for claims arising prior to that date. The fund can provide up to $1.5 million in claims against a lawyer. Special permission can be granted by the Supreme Court to exceed that amount.

Here are the attorneys, the county where they practices and the deadline for filing a claim:

Terence S. Brady - Burlington - June 6

Jonathan S. Bristol - New York May 24

Duncan G. Cameron - Bergen - April 6

Steven E. Cohen - Monmouth - May 26

James P. Conroy - Morris - May 24

Arthur J. Cutillo - Bergen - June 27

Patrice M. Davis - Essex - June 30

Roosevelt Hairston Jr. - Pennsylvania - June 3

Stephen M. Hiltebrand - Camden - June 17

Peter H. Jacoby - Somerset - June 7

Yong-Wook Kim - New York - April 6

Fred J. Klein - Middlesex - June 21

James H. Mac Donald - Morris - May 11

Kevin H. Main - May 11

Clifford J. Minor - Essex - May 5

Erik Mueller - Ocean - June 24

Wayne Powell - Camden - June 29

Matthew D. Skelley - Bergen - April 6

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 609-292-8008. Claimants assisted in their claims by practicing attorneys receive their representation free of charge.

—TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM