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Chief
Justice Margaret H. Marshall Presents
Clients’ Security Board’s William J. Ledoux Award
Boston, MA--In
recognition of outstanding efforts in helping a claimant recover
substantial financial losses caused by attorney defalcation,
Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall
today presented the third annual Clients’ Security Board’s
William J. LeDoux Award to attorney Thomas G. Hoffman of Brookline
in the SJC’s Courtroom in the Suffolk County Courthouse.
Mr. Hoffman, a partner in the
Boston law firm of Greene & Hoffman, was chosen as this
year’s award recipient for having recovered $282,000 suffered
by an estate after a co-executor, a former lawyer, misappropriated
the funds. After recovering almost half of the claim through
his own efforts, Mr. Hoffman successfully represented the
claimant before the Clients’ Security Board to recover $142,000,
the balance of the loss.
Chief Justice Marshall said,
"Mr. Hoffman is a deserving recipient of the William
J. LeDoux Award and is to be commended for his fine efforts
in helping to recover funds owed to a claimant. The Clients’
Security Board, well served by seven dedicated lawyers who
volunteer their time, also deserve our appreciation for their
efforts in assisting the public."
Through a portion of the annual
registration fees paid by attorneys to the Board of Bar Overseers,
Massachusetts is one of only three states that fully reimburses
clients who have been victimized by instances of attorney
misappropriations.
Named in honor of the late William
J. LeDoux, who served as a member of the Clients’ Security
Board from 1987 to 1997, including seven years as Chairman,
and who is distinguished for his many accomplishments in advancing
the Board’s goals in serving the public, the award is presented
annually to an attorney who demonstrates extraordinary actions
in representing a claimant before the Board.
Mr. Hoffman has been a partner
at Greene & Hoffman since 1985. Prior to that time, he
served as a solo practitioner, was an Assistant Attorney General
in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, and was Staff
Counsel in the Appeals Division of the Massachusetts Defenders
Committee. A graduate of Yale Law School and Yale University,
Mr. Hoffman is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers
of America and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys.
Former Clients’ Security Board
Chairman Thomas E. Peisch in 1998 recommended the establishment
of the William J. LeDoux Award to recognize Mr. LeDoux’s achievements
before he died in 1999. The Clients’ Security Board, established
by the SJC in 1974, is comprised of seven attorneys who oversee
the disbursement of funds to clients who have been victimized
by attorney defalcation. The Clients’ Security Board Chairman
is Mark N. Berson; the Vice-Chairman is Thomas G. Sitzmann.
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