Eliza Amon's article ["Client funds improved, still flawed," NLJ, Sept. 27] has sent a much-needed wake-up call to our profession. All too many client compensation funds still provide only token recompense, teeter in and out of bankruptcy, operate in secret and manifest overt hostility toward claimants. Sadly, the legal profession's commitment to assist the victims of unethical attorneys remains an unkept promise.

Of the many problems, caps on client security fund awards may be the most glaring and the least justifiable. Those states that fully reimburse clients do so at the simple cost of one billable hour a year per lawyer. Such caps must be eliminated.

These nationwide failures in providing financial redress to injured clients are all the more significant because the other methods of ensuring lawyer accountability are also seriously flawed. Lawyer-discipline systems across the nation are plagued by secrecy, laxity, bias and delay. The American Bar Association's latest findings show that 94% of attorneys against whom complaints are filed are not disciplined. In every state except Oregon, lawyers are not required to carry even minimal malpractice insurance; clients' chances of full restitution are still slim.

Without delay, state bar associations must increase funding to make funds solvent, raise payouts to fully reimburse clients and publicize the funds' availability. Responsible members of the bench and bar must show a commitment to implementing systems that create real accountability and restore public trust.

Suzanne Mishkin

Kristin Weber

Washington, D.C.

The writers are associate counsel and program associate, respectively, of Halt—An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform.