The Oregon State Bar Professional Liability Fund (“PLF”), the captive insurance company organized by and under the Oregon Judicial Department, reported an investment loss of $9.6 Million in 2022.
Following up on that news, I filed a Freedom of Information Request for the audited financial statements for 2018-2022. A representative of the PLF contacted me and is refusing to provide the audited financial statements.
Oregon agencies like the PLF are technically required by law to have their financial statements audited and reported by a Certified Public Accountant. That’s not being done and it is reasonably clear why. In the absence of audited financial statements, the PLF is free to redirect its $25 million annual revenue, tax-free revenue, to pet projects of the executive group.
According to the Oregon State Bar’s By-Laws, “each year, the Board will prepare a statement explaining the financial condition of the Oregon State Bar for the 12 months preceding, as required by the Bar Act. The Chief Executive Officer of the bar shall promptly submit the statement to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. ” There is nothing in the By-Laws that appears to require audited financial statements.
Under Section 18.10 (Audit of PLF) “The Board of Governors may cause a special audit of the performance and financial statement of the PLF in addition to the statutory audit. Special audits are at the expense of the general membership of the Bar.”
As far as I can tell a statutory audit is not being done.
How did the PLF lose almost 50% of its equity in one year? That’s a good question and a question that Megan Livermore and the PLF do not address, as they should, in their unaudited annual report. OSB_PLF-2022-AnnualReport-R4.
We need to be open to the possibility that the PLF has been using its substantial war chest to finance and engage in civil rights violations. The PLF has been successful in the Portland Metro area of influencing the Courts to dismiss legal malpractice claims early, to not permit legal malpractice claims to get to a jury and to suppress these claims by punishing the victims of legal malpractice.
Nationally, 7% of malpractice claims go to trial. In the Portland Metro area, about 1-2% make it to trial, with the PLF losing most of the time.
Two years ago, I predicted that the PLF would one day not be able to hide behind their investment portfolio successes. The time may have come.
In my experience Judges give too much credibility to the PLF and the attorneys representing attorneys that commit malpractice.
We are only now scratching the surface of the influence the PLF has on sitting and pro tem Judges.
More next time.
When Justice Fails 