Legal Profession Protects
Clients
Name Change To Client Protection
Fund of the
Bar of Maryland Will Better Represent
Its Purpose
(ANNAPOLIS, MD—June 14, 2002) The
Client Security Trust Fund (CSTF), which serves the public by reimbursing
clients whose attorneys were found to have stolen funds from them, had
its name changed to the Client Protection Fund of the Bar of Maryland in
an effort to reflect the organization’s true purpose.
“The name change to the Client Protection
Fund of the Bar of Maryland is in keeping with the national trend in the
client protection sector to become more accessible to those the organization
serves,” said Maryland Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert M. Bell. “It
is imperative that this important public resource is brought to the public’s
attention.” The CSTF, now known as the Client Protection Fund
of the Bar of Maryland, was created in 1965 for the purpose of maintaining
the integrity and protecting the name of the legal profession. The Fund
reimburses clients for losses caused by misappropriation of funds by members
of the Maryland Bar, acting either as attorneys or as fiduciaries. Since
its creation, the Client Protection Fund of the Bar of Maryland has been
recognized by the American Bar Association’s Client Protection Fund Committee
and by the National Client Protection Organization, Inc. as one of the
best such funds in the nation—handling close to 1,500 claims and paying
out nearly six million dollars in compensation.
Unfortunately, the Client Protection
Fund of the Bar of Maryland is a widely unknown, and therefore underutilized,
public resource. The nine Trustees appointed by the Court of Appeals to
oversee and maintain the Fund assert that the original name did not reflect
the main purpose of the organization—to protect attorney clients. Having
the name changed to the “Client Protection Fund” provides a more accurate
definition of the Fund’s overall mission.
The website for The Client Protection
Fund of the Bar of Maryland, http://www.courts.state.md.us/cpf/index.html,
will be available on July 1, 2002. For more information on the Client Protection
Fund of the Bar of Maryland, please call 410/260-1950.
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