Fiduciary Exploitation in Legal Practice

These 2 cases exemplify how some private practitioners, free from institutional oversight and incentivized

by large contingency fees, can exploit fiduciary opportunities, such as fraud.

Contrasted with public defenders who, by virtue of statutory salary,

institutional supervision, and ethos, face fewer incentives to commit client-fund fraud.

Public defenders typically have their compensation fixed, which is not tied to settlement size,

and operate in accordance with ethics laws of public servants.