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Posted on November 1, 2023February 7, 2024 by Rosemary

California Administratively Suspends Lawyers for Trust Account Issues

November 1, 2023

Reading time: 1 minutes

A green background with a magnifying glass with a warning sign.

In July 2023, the California State Bar administratively suspended more than 1,600 attorneys for violating the new Client Trust Account Protection Program.  Suspended attorneys were listed as “inactive” with the Bar and not legally allowed to practice law.  The new rules were enacted in part as a response to the allegations that disgraced attorney Thomas Girardi of Girardi & Keese stole more than $18 million from his clients. 

The California Trust Account Protection Program provides that California lawyers must comply with new requirements, including:

  • Registering their client trust accounts annually with the California State Bar;
  • Completing an annual self-assessment of client trust account management practices; and
  • Certifying with the California State Bar that they understand and comply with Rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct concerning safekeeping of client funds and property.

According to the California State Bar website, the Bar will not impose penalties for failure to comply with the new program requirements until April 3, 2024. However, in future years, the reporting deadline will be February 1.  California attorneys can fufill their reporting requirements via the My State Bar Profile.  The State Bar requests that attorneys email [email protected] or call 888-505-5208 with any questions. 

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Tami Harwood. Esq.
Tami joined Attorney Protective as a claims consultant in April of 2024.She is a graduate of New York Law School and has 3 decades of experience as an attorney with 11 years spent working with legal malpractice claims. She also has experience with the NYC Department of Sanitation and insurance defense while in private practice.

Tami Harwood, who handled and managed LPL claims with a similar insured profile for over 11 years, is coming over from a large, multi-line insurer, where she has worked for over 19 years. At her current employer, Tami is handling high exposure general and auto liability claims, to include excess catastrophe. Tami brings years of adjusting experience after practicing environmental law in private practice.

Colleen Zaniewski. Esq.
Colleen joined Attorney Protective as a claims consultant in March 2024.Prior to that Colleen focused her practice on  the defense of malpractice actions brought against professionals, including architects, engineers, attorneys, accountants and consultants. Colleen is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and Suffolk University Law School and has 2 decades experience as an attorney.

Tami Harwood, who handled and managed LPL claims with a similar insured profile for over 11 years, is coming over from a large, multi-line insurer, where she has worked for over 19 years. At her current employer, Tami is handling high exposure general and auto liability claims, to include excess catastrophe. Tami brings years of adjusting experience after practicing environmental law in private practice.

Marianna Utin

Prior to joining AttPro in 2023, Marianna Utin previously worked in handling professional liability and complex, high exposure claims for over a decade. She graduated from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in New York and clerked for Hon. Herman Cahn. She has been a licensed attorney since 2008 and is currently based in Boston, MA.

 

Chris Fagan. Esq.
Chris joined Attorney Protective as a claims consultant in March 2023  with over 7 years of legal malpractice claims experience. Before that, Chris was in private practice in Missoula Montana between 2004-2015 primarily representing contractors, accountants, real estate agents, and other professionals defending negligence claims. Chris is a graduate of the University of Nevada and University of Montana School of Law and spends his spare time fishing, hunting, mountain biking, and rafting the rivers near his home in Missoula with his wife and son and daughter.

Tami Harwood, who handled and managed LPL claims with a similar insured profile for over 11 years, is coming over from a large, multi-line insurer, where she has worked for over 19 years. At her current employer, Tami is handling high exposure general and auto liability claims, to include excess catastrophe. Tami brings years of adjusting experience after practicing environmental law in private practice.

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Craig Law

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Craig moved to Arizona where he captained the Arizona State University Sundevils Hockey Team and in 2002, earned his BS in Political Science. From there, Craig joined AIG as an Underwriter where he worked with the Private Division focusing on Executive Liability.  Craig later moved to a wholesale broker where he specialized in professional and management liability.  Most recently, Craig worked as a Marketing Manager serving both wholesale and retail partners.

Craig joined Attorney Protective in 2019 and is heavily involved in interacting and building relationships with our distribution partners.  With his background, Craig brings a unique approach to AttPro allowing him to provide insights to both our underwriters and distribution partners to problem solve and maximize every opportunity.

Craig lives in Chandler, Arizona with his wife and two young children where he can be found spending quality time with his family and working on his golf game.

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Having grown up in central Minnesota, Brandon enjoys the sunny, warm weather of his current home in suburban Dallas, TX, even while enduring the occasional meltdown of the power grid. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family, poolside in the backyard, traveling, and working on various projects around the house and garage.

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Erin McCartney, Esq. RPLU

Erin earned her J.D. in 2002 from Villanova University School of Law, and her Bachelors degree from Georgetown University. Erin began her career as an insurance defense attorney in Philadelphia and is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. She later joined Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company where she handled professional liability claims and acted as the risk and claims service consultant for the company’s top accounts. Erin joined AttPro in 2016 and is currently the AVP, Risk Management and Marketing.

Erin leads the marketing initiatives at AttPro. She authors articles and presents CLE seminars on ethics and risk management for state bar associations and other legal organizations. Given her unique experience as an attorney, claim specialist and risk management consultant, she brings a valuable and realistic perspective to the risks faced by lawyers in today’s environment.

At home, Erin’s favorite hobby is coaching her kids’ sports teams. She has four children ranging from ages 16 to 8 and the most rewarding title to her (second only to “mom”) is “coach.”

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Michele was born and raised in the Dallas area and attended Kilgore College where she was a member of the world famous Kilgore Rangerettes.

Michele has over 32 years in the insurance industry, with heavy concentration in operations, customer service, and extensive management experience. Throughout her tenure Michele has focused on obsessive client focus, leadership, mentoring and developing fellow teammates. She holds her Property and Casualty License and Surplus Lines License in Texas, her Registered Professional Liability Underwriter designation through PLUS and she earned a Certificate of General Insurance and an Associate in Insurance Services through Insurance Institute of America.

Michele and her husband of 33 years, Scott, have two daughters and live east of Dallas in the Rockwall area. Leisure time is spent with family, playing with their German Shorthair Pointers, or running their family farm where they raise cattle and have a pecan orchard.

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Scott Patrick, RPLU

Scott earned a BS in Mathematics from Purdue University in 1997. He began his insurance career in 2000 as an underwriter. Transitioning from underwriting to actuarial, Scott sharpened his analytical skills by developing pricing targets for those personal lines products. He later joined Great American Insurance Company where he focused efforts on pricing, underwriting, data analysis and driving results.

Scott joined AttPro in 2009 and as the 2nd employee hired, he has been instrumental in starting up the division, ensuring profitable results, and molding AttPro into a successful Legal Professional Liability insurer. Scott’s approach to rate adequacy and price stability is pivotal to the division’s future success and will help solidify a stable retention platform with unwavering obsessive client focus.

At home, Scott aspires to decompress by enjoying his family and occasionally playing a little golf. He has two children a boy and a girl. Scott enjoys spending time in the Texas Hill Country area visiting wineries with his wife and friends.

Mary Jane Wheeler, Esq.
Mary Jane Wheeler joined the AttPro claims team in November 2021. Mary Jane previously worked for another professional liability insurer and has handled lawyers professional liability claims in her past life. Mary Jane graduated from the South Texas College of Law and after clerking for a state appellate judge, entered private practice for 17 years, to include handling insurance defense. She has been handling or auditing legal liability insurance claims since 2007 in some form or fashion.
Bryan Kirsch. Esq.
Bryan Kirsch has been handling lawyer’s professional liability claims at Attorney Protective since 2019. Before joining AttPro, Bryan has in part defend insureds from malpractice liability matters for two decades. Bryan practiced as a partner in a personal injury firm and worked as an insurance defense attorney for a number of years after graduating from the University of Illinois College of Law.
David Littleton

Before joining AttPro, David Littleton was in private practice as a partner in an Arkansas law firm that represented MedPro Group insureds. David has been representing AttPro insureds since our inception and has been defending LPL claims for almost two decades. David graduated with a J.D. from the University of Arkansas.

Jim Cartier

Jim Cartier has been handling claims for Attorney Protective since June 2010. Prior to working at AttPro, he handled legal professional liability claims for a TPA and for another LPL insurer for over 12 years. When he was at a law firm, part of his practice involved representing lawyers in professional liability claims. Jim graduated from Southern Methodist University law school and has been a licensed attorney for over 3 decades.

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Dr. Zimmer received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, and his graduate degree in nutrition from Bridgeport University in Connecticut. He also graduated summa cum laude from the National College of Chiropractic where he received numerous honors including being voted outstanding graduate by the faculty. He has been the featured speaker at many conferences spanning across the country and has also authored many books and more than 100 articles. Dr. Zimmer currently performs chiropractic peer reviews and has been a defense expert witness for more than 12 years.