87R1017 YDB-D
By: Miles S.B. No. 755
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to protection of a client's money and property by an
attorney representing the client; creating civil liability.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 82, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 82.0625 to read as follows:
Sec. 82.0625. PROTECTION OF CLIENT MONEY AND PROPERTY;
LICENSE SUSPENSION; CIVIL LIABILITY. (a) This section applies
only to an attorney who receives for a client represented by the
attorney money or other property paid to settle a claim in which the
client has an interest.
(b) The attorney:
(1) shall immediately notify the client on the
attorney's receipt of the money or property; and
(2) may pay to a third person a claim owed by the
client using the money or property only with the client's consent
unless other law requires the attorney to pay the claim to the
person.
(c) An attorney who violates Subsection (b) may be suspended
from the practice of law for not more than six months by a district
court of the county in which the attorney resides or in which the
act complained of occurred.
(d) An attorney who violates Subsection (b) is subject to
civil liability for the violation. A person may bring a civil
action against the attorney to recover:
(1) damages in an amount equal to the amount of money
or value of the property received by the attorney;
(2) interest at a rate not to exceed the judgment rate
authorized in the most recent Texas Credit Letter published by the
Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner; and
(3) reasonable attorney's fees.
SECTION 2. Section 82.0625, Government Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to money or other property received by an
attorney for a client on or after the effective date of this Act.
Money or other property received by an attorney for a client before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the money or other property was received, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.