Washington Lawyer - January/February 2022 - 29

SPECIAL SECTION
Excellence and Service
Colum bia and, from 1967 to 1968, he led a task force that sought court
permission to allow law students to represent low-income clients in small
claims and landlord and tenant court. The effort, which took two years,
resulted in the creation of D.C. Law Students in Court. The program exists
today as Rising for Justice, with most area law schools now heavily
involved.
While serving on the Bar's Board of Governors in the 1970s, Wolf chaired
a committee that sought to address ineffective assistance of courtappointed
counsel for indigent defendants, which led to the establishment
of a disciplinary process for investigating complaints. Wolf also
played a big hand in the creation of the Bar's sections (now Communities)
according to practice areas, giving members opportunities
to engage with fellow practitioners and grow their careers.
Following retirement, Wolf has moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina,
where he keeps busy writing for his blog and contributing to the WinstonSalem
Journal. He also tries to pass on to others Dean Griswold's inspiring
words about the importance of volunteerism. " Volunteer! You meet wonderful
people, accomplish amazing things, and whether you realize it or
not, you are continually putting money in the bank, " says Wolf.
MOVING THE NEEDLE ON
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
MARNA S. TUCKER
Despite varying backgrounds and personalities,
the Bar's early leaders were
able to address emerging priorities,
including increasing diversity and inclusion
in the legal profession. " We consciously
brought people of color and
women into the pool of people who
were considered for appointments, "
says Florence Roisman, one of two
women first elected to the Bar's Board
of Governors. " When we would propose
a person for consideration, there might
have been an initial negative reaction, but when we talked about the
person's credentials, the Board would say, yes, that is someone we
should consider for appointment. "
Roisman, an expert in housing inequity and discrimination and author
of the casebook Property and Human Rights, also remembers the tension
during the early days of Board meetings. " Some of the men on the Board
had a lot of trouble dealing with us. They had a lot of trouble recognizing
that when the Board of Governors sat at a table, we were as entitled to
be there and to speak as they were, " Roisman says. " They didn't start out
feeling comfortable with that. I think a fair number of them came to be
continued on page 41
CLIENTS' SECURITY FUND
A Commitment to Protecting the Public
By Jeremy Conrad
W
hen Joseph W. Hoffler, a retired lieutenant colonel in the
U.S. Air Force, needed to amend his service record, he
retained counsel because of the complicated procedural
requirements. " It's a very arduous path, " Hoffler says, " and you
need an attorney to do it. " Although Hoffler diligently made
payments to his attorney, he saw no evidence that any work had
been done.
Hoffler took his complaint to the D.C. Bar, where the attorney was
licensed, and was directed to file a claim with the Clients' Security
Fund (CSF), a program that compensates clients who have suffered
a financial loss due to the dishonest conduct of a Bar member and
for which no other mode of compensation is available.
The fund is among the Bar's oldest institutions, created very
shortly after the Bar's establishment 50 years ago by the D.C. Court
of Appeals. Clients' security funds were a relatively new idea at the
time, having only recently received the support of the American
Bar Association. But the notion had traction, and by 1998 every
jurisdiction in the United States had established a clients' security
fund, though they remain differently funded and administered.
The D.C. Bar Clients' Security Fund does not compensate client
losses resulting from negligent, ineffective, or inadequate legal
assistance. Instead, the CSF compensates individuals like Hoffler
who hire an attorney who then fails to provide the promised representation
and does not return the fee, or who misappropriates
funds they hold on the client's behalf.
Kathleen Lewis, associate director of the D.C. Bar Attorney/Client
Relations Program, describes several fact patterns that might result
in a compensable claim. " One example is the unearned fee, where
the client paid an upfront flat fee and the lawyer performed no
work, or such a minimal amount of work that there was no benefit
to the client. The other scenario is when an attorney absconds
with client funds, " she says. " There are also violations of fiduciary
duties, though this also must relate to legal representation. " In all
circumstances the misappropriation must arise while the attorney
was acting as a lawyer or fiduciary customary to the practice of
law, and the claimant must have no other recourse to recover the
alleged loss.
continued on page 41
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022
* WASHINGTON LAWYER 29
Patrice Gilbert Photography
Washington Lawyer - January/February 2022

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