A client protection fund first started payments in 1982 and...

A client protection fund first started payments in 1982 and has given $270 million to nearly 9,500 recipients. Credit: Getty Images / iStockphoto / LIgorko

The New York State Lawyers’ Client Protection Fund reimburses people who lost their money to dishonest attorneys. The fund first started payments in 1982 and has given $270 million to nearly 9,500 recipients. About a quarter of all the payments went to over 2,500 clients of Long Island-based lawyers — representing the greatest portion of payments to any judicial district in New York State, a Newsday analysis found.

The fund receives almost all of its money from a portion of biennial attorney registration fees, $60 out of $375, and no taxpayer dollars are involved. The fund pays out no more than $400,000 a claim, a cap its board of trustees set over a decade ago.

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Violent ICE encounter in Nassau ... Disability rights movement museum ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV

Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV Credit: Newsday

Violent ICE encounter in Nassau ... Disability rights movement museum ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV

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