Today, a friend who is a collection lawyer in New Jersey, told me a story about a woman who he represented for free. The woman was previously represented by a New York lawyer in the Bronx who stole her entire $25,000 settlement. The client, on her own, obtained a default judgment against the lawyer but was unable to collect any money. My friend successfully obtained reimbursment for her from the New York State attorney-client fund.

My friend said that he found out that the lawyer in the Bronx had been disbarred because he stole money from many other clients, but was never prosecuted. He said it’s like Lays potato chips, once you have one, you can’t have just one. He said that New Jersey prosecutes lawyers when they steal money from clients, but that New York does not.