February 22, 2013 - Oregon State Bar

OREGON STATE BAR
Board of Governors Agenda
Meeting Date: February 2, 2013
From:
David Wade, Chair, Governance and Strategic Planning Committee
Re:
CSF Authority to Resolve Small Awards
Action Recommended
Approve the recommendation of the Governance and Strategic Planning Committee
that the Client Security Fund be authorized to give final approval to awards of less than $5,000.
Background
In 1967, the Board of Governors established the Client Security Fund under the
authority of ORS 9.625:
9.625 Plan to relieve client losses; rules. The board of governors may adopt a plan to relieve
or mitigate pecuniary losses to the clients of active members caused by dishonest conduct of
those members in their practice of law. The plan may provide for establishing, administering
and dissolving a separate fund and for payments from that fund to reimburse losses and
costs and expenses of administering the fund. The board may adopt rules of procedure to
carry out the plan. The insurance laws of the state shall not apply to this fund.
The statutory scheme reposes final authority for payment of claims with the Board of
Governors:
9.625:
9.665 Authority for reimbursement of client; waiver of conditions….(1) Except as provided
in this section, reimbursement from the client security fund is discretionary with the board
of governors.
(2) The board shall not authorize payment unless the conditions of ORS 9.655 (1) have been
found to exist. However, the board may, in its sole discretion, waive one or more of the
conditions of ORS 9.655 (1) in cases of extreme hardship or special and unusual
circumstances….
The BOG’s authority over claims is echoed in the CSF Rules adopted pursuant to ORS
4.11. Claims approved by the Committee shall be reviewed by the Board of Governors prior
to final action being taken thereon.
4.12 Decisions of the Committee which are reviewed by the Board of Governors shall be
considered under the criteria stated in these rules. The Board shall approve or deny each
claim presented to it for review, or it may refer a claim to the Committee for further
investigation prior to making a decision.
Although the investigation of claims is handled by a committee appointed by the BOG and the
day-to-day operations are handled by OSB staff, the BOG is the trustee of the Fund, ultimately
responsible for assuring it is properly maintained and distributed.