Standing Committee on Public Protection in the Provision of Legal Services

    The Committee works to develop and strengthen client protection mechanisms, including programs to reimburse financial losses caused by lawyer misappropriation of client funds through the establishment of lawyer's funds for client protection (formerly known as client security funds).

    The Committee also promotes consumer and governmental interests with respect to the participation in law-related activities by individuals who are not licensed to practice law in a jurisdiction. Issues in this area include the interstate practice of law, the provision of legal services by nonlawyers, and the practice of law following the determination of a major disaster. The Standing Committee on Client Protection sponsors educational programs, provides onsite consultations, develops model rules for adoption as ABA policy, and conducts and publishes surveys.

    Registration Open!

    36th ABA National Forum on Client Protection

    Join us on June 4, 2021 for the 36th ABA National Forum on Client Protection virtual forum.

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    2017-2019 Survey of Lawyer’s Funds for Client Protection

    This survey requested data for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 calendar years from Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection programs across the Unites States and Canada. The information collected included general information about each Fund's rules, processes, and procedures as well as data regarding the number of claims, types of claims, and amounts awarded for each year. These statistics are collected and analyzed as a resource for the Client Protection Fund community as well as the legal profession at large to identify trends and track both the need and effectiveness of client protection programs for the public that we serve. The ABA and NCPO would like to thank all of the programs across the United States and Canada who participated in the survey. Your response is greatly valued and very much appreciated.

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    Leadership

    Committee Roster (10 total members)

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    What's New

    Antitrust Liability, Lack of Funding Trouble UPL Regulators

    Unauthorized practice of law regulators’ top worries include being sued under antitrust laws, lack of funding, and difficulty in getting complainants to cooperate, according to contributors at the opening session of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility's third annual UPL School in Chicago Oct. 26.

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    State UPL Regulators Try to Numb ‘Dental Examiners’ Pain

    Regulators who combat unauthorized practice of law are still feeling aftershocks from U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dental Examiners, which exposes ‘‘active market participants’’ who regulate their own markets to liability for antitrust violations.

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    Immigration Lawyers Should Embrace Technology to Thwart UPL

    Online services could be the key to protecting immigrants from unlicensed legal practitioners, according to a panel of immigration lawyers at the ABA's 2017 UPL School.

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    Publications

    Resources