Bar board keeps client protection assessment at $20, raises initial payment and claim limit

Director of Finance Tiffany Lynch told the Bar Association Board of Governors that the client protection fund recommendations are on page 140 of the meeting materials and that the budget and audit committee had forwarded three actions for approval: keep the client protection fund assessment at $20 for 2026, raise the initial gift payment amount from $5,000 to $10,000, and increase the per-claim limit on gifts from $150,000 to $250,000.

The action matters because it changes how much the fund commits up front to individual claimants and raises the maximum award per claim. Lynch said the initial payment increase "means that you're committing $5,000 more per client or per gift" at the time a gift is made, while noting the client protection fund balance is "over $5,000,000 at this point." She also told the board the last per-claim limit increase occurred in February 2016, when the cap rose from $75,000 to $150,000.

Associate General Counsel Nicole Gusteen said she was available to answer questions. Governor Kevin Fay sought clarification on one memorandum in the packet that related to a limited-practice-officer assessment; Lynch confirmed the board was not being asked to vote on that item at the meeting.

A motion to accept the Budget & Audit Committee's recommendations was made and seconded. Executive Director Nevitt conducted a roll-call vote. Nam Nguyen, Tom Ahern, Chris Bang, Matthew Dresden, Kari Petrasek, Jordan Couch, Todd Bloom, Christina Larry, Emily Arneson, Parvin Price and Kevin Fay voted yes. Mary Rathbone voted no. Allison Whitney and Alan Villeneuve were recorded as not present. Executive Director Nevitt announced the motion "passes with 1 negative vote." The motion implements the three changes: the $20 assessment for 2026, the $10,000 initial gift payment, and the $250,000 per-claim maximum.

Lynch and others noted the board has not had to prorate payments in many years; the packet showed that if the $250,000 limit had been in place over the past seven years, about six claims would have been affected for a total of roughly $700,000. The board did not take action on any limited-practice-officer assessment referenced in a separate memo.

The board's vote applies to the client protection fund administrative settings described in the Budget & Audit Committee recommendation. Board members and staff indicated the changes came from the client protection fund board and were forwarded by the Budget & Audit Committee for Governors' approval.

The board moved on after the vote; no additional directions or implementation dates were specified during the recorded discussion.