ST. PAUL – At its January 26, 2026, meeting, the Minnesota Client Security Board approved payment of four claims, in the amount of $28,080, relating to attorney Joseph J. LeBlanc […]
News & Resources
The News category includes press releases, announcements and postings that may be of interest relating to attorney ethics or client protection.
The articles listed below highlight the creation of the Client Security Board as well as newsworthy events and changes in client protection throughout the years. Note: Citations to rules in an article are to the rules as they existed at the time the article was published. Rules may have changed since the article was published.
JOB DESCRIPTION DESCRIPTION: The office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility (OLPR) is seeking an experienced Attorney or Senior Attorney to join our team. The OLPR handles ethics complaints against licensed attorneys. […]
On-Demand Viewing Instructions The recording of the 2025 Lawyers Professional Responsibility Seminar is now available for on-demand viewing. The Seminar is free to watch and is worth 4.5 ethics credits […]
ST. PAUL – At its October 20, 2025, meeting, the Minnesota Client Security Board approved payment of one claim, in the amount of $5,000, relating to attorney Joseph J. LeBlanc.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Michael S. Mather is appointed as a nominee of the Minnesota State Bar Association, to serve as a member of the Client Security Board for a 3- year term effective immediately and expiring on June 30, 2028.
ST. PAUL – At its June 23, 2025, meeting, the Minnesota Client Security Board approved payment of two claims, in the amount of $31,000, relating to suspended attorney Samuel A. McCloud and disbarred attorney Michael B. Padden.
Two attorneys and two members of the public (non-attorneys) are being sought to fill four vacancies commencing February 1, 2025 on the 23-member Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board. The all-volunteer Board […]
ST. PAUL – At its January 27, 2025, meeting, the Minnesota Client Security Board approved payment of one claim, in the amount of $32,067.60, relating to attorney Robert R. Hopper.
ST. PAUL – At its September 23, 2024, meeting, the Minnesota Client Security Board approved payment of two claims, in the amount of $33,500, relating to disbarred attorney Michael B. Padden.
ST. PAUL – At its June 24, 2024, meeting, the Minnesota Client Security Board approved payment of two claims, in the amount of $2,440, relating to disbarred attorneyJames V. Bradley and disability inactive attorney Gary A. Gittus.
ST. PAUL – At its November 13, 2023, meeting, the Minnesota Client Security Board approved payment
ST. PAUL – At its June 26, 2023, meeting, the Minnesota Client Security Board approved payment of two claims, in the amount of $14,540, against disbarred attorneys John T. Hernandez and Ignatius C. Udeani.
ST. PAUL – At its April 17, 2023, meeting, the Minnesota Client Security Board approved payment of two claims, in the amount of $20,000, relating to suspended and deceased attorney Richard L. Swanson, and disabled attorney Gary A. Gittus.
ST. PAUL – At its April 25, 2022, meeting, the Minnesota Client Security Board approved payment of three claims, in the amount of $3,800, against disbarred attorney Peter G. Lennington and deceased attorney David Walter Olson.
ST. PAUL – At its January 24, 2022, meeting, the Minnesota Client Security Board approved payment of two claims, in the amount of $10,750, relating to disbarred attorney Peter G. Lennington.
ST. PAUL – At its September 14, 2020, meeting, the Minnesota Client Security Board approved payment of five claims, in the total amount of $20,300, against disabled attorney Terrence Patrick Duggins.
Articles
Thirty years ago the Minnesota Supreme Court Security fund to provide a funding source to pay victims of intentional lawyer dishonesty It appears the genesis of the fund was the […]
When an attorney steals funds from clients, neither criminal nor civil proceedings may be sufficient to make the client whole; when the attorney has already spent the money, a judgment or order for restitution may be worthless.
The Minnesota Client Security Board's (The Board) year ended June 30, 2011. This was also the end of my tenure on the Board as an MSBA nominated member. Having served two 3- year terms, the last two years as Chair, I am not eligible to serve another term.
Articles
Client Security Board Approves Claims.” So reads the standard headline to the press release issued by the Minnesota Client Security Board (CSB) following one of its quarterly meetings.
Here I am again, starting my second and final term as a member of the Client Security Board (CSB).
Articles
Over the 20-plus years of its existence, the Minnesota Client Security Board has diligently assessed the viability of the Minnesota Client Security Fund and made recommendations to the Minnesota Supreme Court regarding the board’s portion of lawyer registration fees.
On July 1, 2007, the Client Security Fund and its administering body, the Client Security Board, will celebrate their 20th year of operation.
The members of the Client Security Board (CSB) are appointed to three year terms by the Minnesota Supreme Court. T7 Board consists of five attorney members and two public (no attorney) members.
The Minnesota Client Security BoardFtn1 has dealt with a wide variety of issues lately. The most significant of the Board’s recent actions is the record dollar amount of claims approved against disbarred lawyer Stephen Rondestvedt. In September 2003, Mr.
Articles
You can always recognize a Minnesota attorney who has been around awhile. When you mention the “Flanagan tax,” he responds with a nod or a scowl, mindful of the one-time payment of $100 required of every Minnesota attorney in the mid-1980s to help pay Flanagan’s victims.
Several months ago, the National Law Journal (NLJ) took aim at the client security funds of the United States (the preferred term these days is actually law client protection funds) in a feature series of articles entitled "An Empty Promise: How client protection funds betray those they were designed to...
Among the duties performed by the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility is to act as staff to the Minnesota Client Security Board. That board's function is to make restitution to the victims of dishonest conduct committed by Minnesota lawyers in an attorney-client relationship, and in some closely related fiduciary capacities.
Obtaining repayment of the money paid out by a client protection fund on behalf of a lawyer thief is no easy matter. Each year, client protection agencies nationwide pay out millions of dollars on claims against attorneys who have misappropriated their clients' money, with little realistic hope of recovering these...
Ken Bossong's commentary in the January 1998 issue of The Client Protection Webb ("Assessing Without Apology") is a powerful argument for an adequately financed client protection fund. The editorial closed with the warning that: "few funds have reduced their assessments without an eventual regret for the decision." We here in...
Approximately ten years ago, a Fridley, Minnesota attorney named Mark Sampson left Minnesota in the dead of the night leaving behind his family, large debts and many questioning clients. When the dust settled and the clients gathered their records, they discovered that Sampson had stolen over $430,000 from them. Where...
Articles
The Minnesota Client Security Fund and Board will celebrate ten years of official operation on July 1, 1997. No gala party will be held; no politicians in formal attire will show up; Bench & Bar (or even Law & Politics) will not send a photographer. If not for this article,...