Lawyers Mutual Insurance of Kentucky
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    • …And Here’s the Top Ten! Ethics and Malpractice Avoidance Guide
    • Effective Supervision: How to Meet Your Ethical Duties and Support Your Team
    • Improving Lawyer Competence with a Trauma Informed Approach
    • It’s Time for Your Annual Check-up!
    • Oyez! Oyez! An Overview of the New Kentucky Rules of Appellate Procedure
    • Planning for the Inevitable Protecting Your Law Firm In A Crisis
    • The Lawyer-Client Relationship Continuum: Determining Duties Owed After Casual Conversations
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We fight for the fighters.

Trust Account Scams
Download 2016_newsletter_fall.pdf

The Risk Manager, Fall 2016

These scams are not new and we would hope that every Kentucky lawyer who reads this newsletter is well familiar with how “the email from Nigeria” scam works. In our Fall 2015 Newsletter we reported on the Bar of the City of New York Committee on Professional Ethics Formal Opinion 2015-3: Lawyers Who Fall Victim to Internet Scams (April 2015).  This opinion is an outstanding consideration of trust account scams and is readily available on the Internet.  The key risk management advice the opinion offers is:

A lawyer’s suspicion should be aroused by any one or more of these common “red flags” indicating a scam:

  • The email sender is based abroad.
  • The email sender does not provide a referral source. (If the email sender is asked how he found the firm, he may respond that it was through an online search. If prospective clients rarely approach the recipient attorney based on an Internet search, this should be an immediate red flag.)
  • The initial email does not identify the law firm or recipient attorney by name, instead using a salutation such as “Dear barrister/solicitor/counselor.”
  • The email uses awkward phrasing or poor grammar, suggesting that is was written by someone with poor English or was converted into English via a translation tool.
  • The email is sent to “undisclosed recipients,” suggesting that it is directed to multiple recipients. (Alternatively, the attorney recipient may be blind copied on the email.)
  • The email requests assistance on a legal matter in an area of law the recipient attorney does not practice.
  • The email is vague in other respects, such as stating that the sender has a matter in the attorney’s “jurisdiction,” rather than specifying the jurisdiction itself.
  • The email sender suggests that for this particular matter the attorney accept a contingency fee arrangement, even though that might not be customary for the attorney’s practice.
  • The email sender is quick to sign a retainer agreement, without negotiating over the attorney’s fee (since the fee is illusory anyway).
  • The email sender assures the attorney that the matter will resolve quickly.
  • The counterparty, if there is one, will also likely respond quickly, settling the dispute or closing the deal with little or no negotiation.
  • The email sender insists that his funds must be wired to a foreign bank account as soon as the check has cleared. (The sender often claims that there is an emergency requiring the immediate release of the funds.)
  • The email sender or counterparty sends a supposed closing payment or settlement check within a few days. The check is typically a forged certified check or a cashier’s check, often from a bank located outside of the attorney’s jurisdiction.

 

Lawyers Mutual of Kentucky

10503 Timberwood Cir., Ste. 213
Louisville, Kentucky 40223

Phone: 502-568-6100
Fax: 502-568-6103

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Lawyers Mutual of Kentucky

10503 Timberwood Cir., Ste. 213
Louisville, Kentucky 40223

Phone: 502-568-6100
Fax: 502-568-6103

Who We Are
About Us
Staff
Board of Directors

What We Do
Risk Mitigation
Professional Liability Policy
Court Bonds
FAQs

Applications
Quick Quote
Application
New Bar Admit

Applications
Quick Quote
Application
New Bar Admit

Forms
Bar Complaint
Claims Reporting
Make a Payment
Add an Attorney
Remove an Attorney
Firm Name Change
Firm Address Change

Resources
Subjects A-Z
Schedule an Ethics CLE
Practice Management

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Disclaimer: The contents of this Web site are intended for general information purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances. It is not the intent of this Web site to establish an attorney’s standard of due care for a particular situation. Rather, it is our intent to advise our policyholders to act in a manner which may be well above the standard of due care in order to avoid claims having merit, as well as those without merit. In the event any statement on the Web site differs from a statement in an issued policy the policy will control.

  • Who We Are
    • About Us
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • What We Do
    • Risk Mitigation
    • Professional Liability Policy
    • Court Bonds
    • FAQs
  • Applications
    • Quick Quote
    • Application
    • New Bar Admit
    • Apply by Postal Mail
  • Forms
    • Claims Reporting
    • Policy Changes
      • Adding an Attorney
      • Remove an Attorney
      • Firm Name Change
      • Firm Address Change
    • Make a Payment
    • Future Contact Request
    • Reporting a Bar Complaint
  • Media
    • Newsletter Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Disaster Response Information
  • Resources
    • Site Search
    • Subjects A–Z
    • Subjects by Year
    • Schedule an Ethics CLE
    • OnDemand CLE Courses
    • Practice Management
    • Financial Statements
  • Contact