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Clients' Security Fund

Table of Contents
Monetary Relief for Clients after Lawyer Dishonesty
What is the Clients’ Security Fund?
How much can I recover?
What losses are covered?
How long do I have to file a claim?
What losses are not covered?
Who should apply to the Fund?
How is a claim processed?
And how long does it take?
What will I be required to do?


Monetary Relief for Clients after Lawyer Dishonesty

The Florida Bar has an active ethics and discipline program designed to maintain high ethical standards for lawyers who practice law in our state.

Despite the stringent standards of admission to the Bar enforced by the Supreme Court of Florida, there may be a few lawyers who are not worthy of the trust their clients place in them.

What is the Clients’ Security Fund?

The Clients’ Security Fund was created to help reimburse you for money you may have lost because of misappropriation or embezzle­ment by your attorney.

The Clients’ Security Fund began operations in 1967. Florida lawyers developed the program, which is funded solely by a portion of the annual member­ship fees of each member of The Florida Bar.

The Fund operates on a fiscal year begin­ning July 1 and ending June 30, and has a fixed amount available for payments each year. All claim payments are held until the end of each fiscal year (June 30) and if the funds exist to pay all approved claims in full those payments are made. If there are not enough funds available to pay all claims in full, payments are made to all claimants on a pro rata (partial) basis.

The Fund is discretionary. This means that the Fund does not have to pay your claim. Your claim can be denied, even if it is one of the types of losses covered.

How much can I recover?

If you paid your attorney fees and your at­torney did not provide any useful services, you may be reimbursed the amount of the fees you paid up to $2,500.

If your attorney misappropriated or embezzled your money held in trust, you may recover the amount of misappropriated or embezzled funds up to a total of $250,000. All claim payments are held until the end of each fiscal year (June 30) and if the funds exist to pay all approved claims in full those payments are made. If there are not enough funds available to pay all claims in full, payments are made to all claimants on a pro rata (partial) basis.

The Fund is discretionary. Your claim can be denied, even if it is one of the types of losses covered. No one has a right to recover money from the Fund.

What losses are covered?

The loss must have occurred during an attor­ney and client relationship or while the attorney was providing services customary to the practice of law. Fees paid to an attorney are reimbursed only after it is determined that no useful services were provided.

How long do I have to file a claim?

You must file a claim with the Bar within two years after you know, or should have known, about the loss.

What losses are not covered?

The Clients’ Security Fund does not reimburse for losses as a result of negligence or malpractice on the part of the attorney. Business or investment relationships between the client and attorney are also not covered. The reimbursable loss is limited to the actual amount taken by the attorney and does not provide for damages, expenses incurred, lost interest, etc. caused by the attorney taking or mishandling clients’ funds or property.

Relationships such as, but not limited to, family, partnership or other associations may be grounds for disallowance of a claim. Normally, claims by governmental agencies, publicly owned corpora­tions, institutional lenders, insurance companies and subrogees are not considered.

Who should apply to the Fund?

If you have paid fees to your attorney and no useful services were provided or if the attorney misappropriated or embezzled your money or property, you may file a claim with the Fund.

If the claim is made on behalf of an estate, the proper party to file is the personal representative of the estate.

How is a claim processed?

An application to the Clients’ Security Fund is reviewed by the staff of The Florida Bar. If your claim is missing information, you will be contacted and asked for the information. If all required in­formation is included in the claim, your attorney will be sent a letter and given an opportunity to respond. The claim will then be assigned for in­vestigation. You may be contacted for more infor­mation. Responding promptly will help move your claim through the process. Once the investigation is complete, your claim is reported to the Clients’ Security Fund Committee. The recommendation from the committee to pay a claim or to deny a claim then goes to a member of the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar called a Designated Reviewer (DR). The DR’s recommendation then goes to the full Board who makes the final decision on whether or not a claim will be approved.

And how long does it take?

It takes anywhere from 6 to 18 months to process your claim. There are several steps to the process and the Bar wants to make sure that all claims are treated fairly and thoroughly investigated. Payments are made after June 30th even if your claim has been processed before June 30th.

The meeting schedules of the Clients’ Security Fund Committee and the Board of Governors also are part of the time consideration. Be as­sured that your claim is being processed.

What will I be required to do?

You must file a Clients’ Security Fund claim with The Florida Bar. You can get the form on the Bar’s website, www.floridabar.org/csf or call (850) 561-5812 to request a form. Make sure that you answer all of the questions and provide all of the documents that show payment to your attorney. You need to sign the original and send the original to The Florida Bar, Clients’ Security Fund, 651 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300. Your cooperation in providing needed information and documentation is necessary; however, you will not be asked to appear before the Clients’ Security Fund Committee or the Board of Governors.

If you have not already done so, you must file a grievance complaint against your attorney. Call The Florida Bar’s ACAP department at 866-352-0707 for information on filing a complaint and for the proper form. You may also be required to file a criminal complaint against the attorney. You should contact your local law enforcement agency for information on how to do this.

If it is apparent there may be another way to recover your money or property, you could be required to pursue the alternate source before the Clients’ Security Fund considers your claim. Such sources might be bonding or insurance companies, banks or other entities that have honored a forged check or draft, and the ac­cused attorney or the attorney’s partners.

The Clients’ Security Fund Committee will let you know whether you need to exhaust other remedies for your claim to be approved.


The material in this pamphlet represents general information. Because the law is continually changing, some provisions in this pamphlet may be out of date. It is always best to consult an attorney about your legal rights and responsibilities regarding your particular case.

[Revised: 7/09 ]