Eric Seiff, a partner at the Manhattan firm of Scopetta, Seiff, Kretz & Abercrombie, has been named by the Court of Appeals to an 11th three-year term as trustee of the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection. Seiff was a charter member of the board when the fund was established in 1981. He has chaired the board of trustees since 2010.
The court announced it had appointed Peter Bellacosa, a partner with Kirkland & Ellis, to a second term on the board. It filled the only opening on the seven-member board with Williamsville businessman Anthony Baynes. He replaces Theresa Mazzullo, who resigned in September.
By law, two of the seven trustees on the board must be non-lawyers. Baynes joins Charlotte Holstein of Syracuse as the other non-attorney trustee. Trustees are not paid. The fund reimburses clients for an attorney's misuse of their money. It approved 253 awards totaling $6.9 million in 2011.
