A client protection fund first started payments in 1982 and...

A client protection fund first started payments in 1982 and has given $270 million to nearly 9,500 recipients. Credit: Getty Images / iStockphoto / LIgorko

The New York State Lawyers’ Client Protection Fund reimburses people who lost their money to dishonest attorneys. The fund first started payments in 1982 and has given $270 million to nearly 9,500 recipients. About a quarter of all the payments went to over 2,500 clients of Long Island-based lawyers — representing the greatest portion of payments to any judicial district in New York State, a Newsday analysis found.

The fund receives almost all of its money from a portion of biennial attorney registration fees, $60 out of $375, and no taxpayer dollars are involved. The fund pays out no more than $400,000 a claim, a cap its board of trustees set over a decade ago.

LIE sinkhole snarls traffic ... NUMC maternity shutdown ... Summer Fun Book preview Credit: Newsday

Hours from possible LIRR strike ... Summer Fun Book preview ... Warmer weather on way ... Design your own pie

LIE sinkhole snarls traffic ... NUMC maternity shutdown ... Summer Fun Book preview Credit: Newsday

Hours from possible LIRR strike ... Summer Fun Book preview ... Warmer weather on way ... Design your own pie

FLASH SALE

$1 FOR ONE YEAR

Unlimited Digital Access

SUBSCRIBE NOW >>Cancel anytime - new subscribers only