Unclaimed Lawyer Trust Account Adjudication(a) When the Oregon Department of State Lands forwards a claim for unclaimed lawyer trust account funds to the Bar for review, the Bar shall review the claim and approve or deny the claim within 120 days after the completed claim form and all necessary information to process the claim is received. If a claimant is requested to provide additional information and fails to do so within 90 days after the request is made, the Bar may close the file without further action. A claim shall be approved if a preponderance of the evidence proves the claimant is legally entitled to the unclaimed lawyer trust account funds. A claim shall be denied if the preponderance of the evidence does not prove the claimant is legally entitled to the property.(b) The Chief Executive Officer or the Chief Executive Officer's designee shall decide whether to approve or deny all claims for amounts under $5000. Claims for amounts of $5000 or more must be reviewed and approved or denied by the Board.(c) The Bar shall utilize claim forms published by the Oregon Department of State Lands. To evaluate whether to approve or deny a claim under Article 21(d), the Bar adopts the claim adjudication rules promulgated by the Oregon Department of State Lands at OAR 141-040-020; and OAR 141-040-0211 through OAR 141-040-0213. Where the rules reference the "Department" they shall be deemed to refer to the Bar.(d) If a claim is approved pursuant to this Subsection, the Chief Executive Officer or designee shall notify the claimant.(e) If a claim is denied, the Chief Executive Officer or the Chief Executive Officer's designee shall notify the claimant. The notice of denial shall include the specific reason for denial and shall include a notice of an opportunity to appeal the denial to the Board.(f) A claimant may appeal the denial of a claim by making a request in writing to the Chief Executive Officer within 60 days after the date of written notice of denial of the claim. A request for appeal shall be in writing and shall identify issues of law or fact raised by the denial and include a summary of the evidence of ownership on which the claim was originally submitted. The Board will review each request for appeal at its next scheduled board meeting following receipt of the request.(g) Additional evidence shall not be admissible on appeal to the Board, except by mutual consent of the Board, the claimant, and any other parties to the proceeding. If such additional evidence is not admitted, the Board shall allow the claimant to resubmit the claim to the Chief Executive Officer with the new evidence.(h) The Chief Executive Officer or designee shall notify the claimant of the Board's decision on appeal.(i) A holder of property who has delivered unclaimed lawyer trust account funds to the Bar pursuant to ORS 98.386(2) may make payment to or delivery of property to an owner and file a claim with the Bar for reimbursement. The Bar shall reimburse the holder within 60 days of receiving proof that the owner was paid. The Bar may not assess any fee or other service charge to the holder. As a condition of receiving the funds from the Bar, the holder shall agree to assume liability for the claimed asset and hold the Bar harmless from all future claims to the property.(j) On a quarterly basis, the Chief Executive Officer or designee shall provide a listing of the claims resolved to the Department of State Lands. The Chief Executive Officer shall also provide an annual report of the claims resolved to the Board.Adopted effective 4/14/2023.