Rule 14-904. Funding.

(a) The Supreme Court shall provide for funding by the lawyers licensed in this state in amounts adequate for the proper payment of claims and costs of administering the Fund subject to paragraph (c).

(b) All determinations with regards to funding shall be within the discretion of the Board, subject to approval of the Supreme Court.

(c) The Bar shall have the authority to assess its members for purposes of maintaining the Fund at sufficient levels to pay eligible claims in accordance with these rules. The Committee shall report annually to the Commission on a timely basis as to known prospective claims as well as total claims paid to date so that an appropriate assessment can be made for the upcoming fiscal year. After the assessment at the beginning of the fiscal year is determined, the Fund balance shall be set in an amount of not less than $200,000. The Bar shall then report to the Supreme Court as to known prospective claims as well as total claims paid to date after which the final assessment and fund balance shall be set with the Court’s approval.

(d) A lawyer's failure to pay any fee assessed under paragraph (c) shall be cause for administrative suspension from practice until payment has been made.

(e) Any lawyer whose actions have caused payment of funds to a claimant from the Fund shall reimburse the Fund for all monies paid out as a result of his or her conduct with interest at legal rate, in addition to payment of the assessment for the procedural costs of processing the claim and reasonable attorney fees incurred by the Bar's Office of Professional Conduct or any other attorney or investigator engaged by the Committee to investigate and process the claim as a condition of continued practice.

(e)(1) In discipline cases where a lawyer receives a public reprimand and the Fund pays an eligible claim, the lawyer’s license to practice shall be administratively suspended for non-payment until reimbursement to the Fund has been made by the lawyer.