Ask Howard Treesong About Law or Lawyering

[adios]

I'll put a caveat on this. I've had attorneys represent me in a few matters during the course of my life. I'll say that with all the attorneys I've retained (not that many thank goodness) I considered each one at the very least ethical. With that said we hear about crooked lawyers alot, lawyers get disbarred all the time, etc. In your opinion how prevelant are lawyers that cheat their clients by embezzling money, misappropriating funds and such? I'm not talking about stuff that's on the edge but stuff that can clearly get them disbarred and/or a criminal conviction. How hard is it to catch a lawyer that's adept at cheating their clients? What things should we be looking for and/or how might we safeguard ourselves?