Shapiro v. Drummond, Woodsum, Plimpton & MacMahon

The result the Court reaches may be sound legislative policy, but that is not the question before us. And we cannot arrive at the meaning of this ancient statute providing a summary process for the “Recovery of Collection Payments from Attorneys” by applying the ethical standards for the behavior of lawyers that the Supreme Judicial Court has more recently laid down in the Maine Bar Rules. Instead, we must confront directly the language of the statute which is alarmingly (for lawyers) simple. Specifically, if a lawyer “receives money ... on a claim left with him for collection or settlement…