RULES FOR CLIENTS' SECURITY FUND AND COMMITTEE OF THE WYOMING STATE BAR
Created May 17, 1989;
Effective June 1, 1989;
Text of Rules
A.
There is hereby established a special committee of the Wyoming State Bar called
the Clients' Security Committee (hereinafter, committee) whose function is to
receive, hold, manage and distribute funds received through the Board of
Commissioners of the state bar, voluntary contributions or otherwise.
B.
The committee shall consist of nine (9) members of the Wyoming State Bar, one
(1) from each of the nine (9) judicial districts of the state, appointed by the
president for terms as follows: two (2) for one (1) year, three (3) for two (2)
years, and four (4) for three (3) years. After the first appointments each
subsequent appointment shall be for a term of three (3) years. Any appointee who
has served two (2) full three-year terms shall not be eligible for reappointment
until one (1) year after the expiration of his last three-year term. Any vacancy
shall be filled by appointment by the president for the unexpired term.
C.
Funds received by the committee shall be used to help reimburse losses hereafter
caused by dishonest conduct of a member of the Wyoming State Bar in the practice
of law to the extent determined proper and feasible by the committee, where such
member has died or been subject to criminal or disciplinary proceedings, or has
ceased to be a member of the Wyoming State Bar. The committee is authorized to
consider claims for reimbursement of such losses and allow or reject them in
whole or in part, having regard for funds available. The committee may use such
funds for the following purposes:
| i. |
Payment to clients or members of the public on claims approved by the committee
up to annual maximums set by the committee;
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| ii. |
To purchase insurance for payment of such claims if obtainable at reasonable
cost and deemed appropriate;
|
| iii. |
For investments of any such funds not currently needed in securities authorized
for fiduciaries under Wyoming law.
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D.
The committee is authorized to prescribe rules and procedures consistent
herewith for management of its funds and presentation, processing and payment of
claims, subject to approval of the Board of Commissioners.
E.
All sums appropriated by the Board of Commissioners or received from other
sources for use of the committee shall be deposited by the secretary-treasurer
of the state bar in a separate clients' security fund and disbursed according to
written direction of the committee.
F.
The president is authorized to make the appointments to the committee, and the
Board of Commissioners is authorized to appropriate to the clients' security
fund such money as may be available for the first year of operation, and
thereafter such amounts as are available and needed by the committee.
G.
The committee shall make a written report of its activities to the Wyoming State
Bar at least annually.
H.
The committee may be abolished at any time by the Wyoming State Bar. If it is
abolished all assets of the clients' security fund shall be the property of the
Wyoming State Bar and shall thereupon be transferred by the secretary-treasurer
to the general fund of the bar to be used for its general purposes.
These rules supersede and repeal Rule 22 of the Rules Providing for the
Organization and Government of the Bar Association of the Attorneys at Law of
the State of Wyoming. (Note: The Rules Providing for the Organization and
Government of the Bar Association of the Attorneys at Law of the State of
Wyoming were amended in 1989. There is no longer a Rule 22.)