Soliciting Escheat Claimants
Annotate this Case 96 N.J.L.J. 1437
December 20, 1973
Appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court
OPINION 274
Soliciting Escheat Claimants
This inquiry is from an attorney who represents a business that conducts investigations. During the course of such business the client learns of unclaimed funds likely to associate. The question is whether or not it would be proper for the attorney: to represent the investigator by alerting the alleged owners of these
funds, inviting them to sign a contract to pay the investigator a percentage of any collections on a contingency basis, and to prepare the required documents at the investigator's expense.
The proposed representation is similar to the situation described in A.B.A. Comm. on Professional Ethics and Grievances, Opinion 173 (1937). It was there held improper for an attorney to search for unknown heirs and solicit employment from them. See, also, Wise, Legal Ethics 138 (2d ed. 1970), Drinker, Legal Ethics
65 (1961). The solicitation on behalf of the client provides no distinction. The conduct proposed would be a breach of DR 2-103.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
