Perkins and Anctil is proud to announce that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has appointed David R. Chenelle, Esq., Chair of the Clients’ Security Board, effective January 27, 2020. Mr. Chenelle is the Director of Condominium Lien Enforcement and Bankruptcy departments at the firm of Perkins & Anctil, P.C. located in Westford, Massachusetts. Mr. Chenelle is a graduate of the Massachusetts School of Law, and has been in practice since 1995. In his earlier professional career, he spent 14 years in the manufacturing industry as an engineer and manager for various defense contractors. During this time has also earned his MBA degree.
Mr. Chenelle is also an active member of the Massachusetts Bar Association; New Hampshire Bar Association; Co-past Chair of the Worcester Bar Association’s Bankruptcy Section; a member of the Local Rules Committee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Massachusetts; active member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA); the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI); and CAI-New England (CAI-NE) for which he is a frequent lecturer.
The Massachusetts Clients’ Security Board was established by the Supreme Judicial Court in 1974 for the purpose of reimbursing clients whose lawyers have misappropriated funds. In so doing, the Board seeks to restore the public’s confidence in the legal profession. A portion of the annual registration fees paid by lawyers admitted to practice in Massachusetts provides the majority of the funding for the Board. Additional funding comes from recoupment of fees from attorneys who have wronged their clients. The seven members of the Board serve without compensation, and all lawyers who represent claimants before the Board do so without charging a fee. There is no monetary limit on an individual’s claim and claimants may receive up to 100% of their claimed loss. There also is no statute of limitations for filing a claim. The Board prides itself on being one of only a handful of boards in the United States and Canada that has no cap on what it may award, that no claimant will be barred from bringing a claim due to a missing deadline. Since the Board began, over Forty-nine Million ($49,000,000) Dollars has been awarded to claimants.