Mauricio R. Celis, the majority partner in former Corpus Christi, Texas, law firm CGT Law Group, goes to trial in Corpus Christi today. Prosecutors are pointing to a little-used law that makes it a crime to impersonate a lawyer for economic benefit.

Celis, who claims to be a Mexican lawyer, faces 23 counts of falsely holding oneself out as a lawyer.

Celis, who is represented by J.A. Canales of Canales & Simonson, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Under §38.122 of the Texas Penal Code, falsely holding oneself out as a lawyer is a third-degree felony, which carries a punishment of two years to 10 years in prison.

The case asks whether the 37-year-old Celis, who attended law school in Mexico, is in fact a Mexican lawyer and, if not, whether he falsely held himself out as a lawyer for economic benefit.

The 2007 indictment alleges Celis falsely held himself out as a lawyer on or about November 1st, 2005, by stating on business letterhead, on a business card, on a business fax cover sheet and on a business Web page that he was licensed in Mexico “and the defendant was not then and there licensed to practice law in this state, another state, or a foreign country and was not then and there in good standing with the State Bar of Texas and the state bar or licensing authority of any state or foreign country where the defendant was licensed to practice law.”

Questions about Celis’ legal credentials arose in the fall of 2007, when Corpus Christi plaintiffs personal-injury lawyer Thomas J. Henry began running television advertisements questioning the credentials of Celis, a partner in CGT. Henry says he bought the ads because he was tired of waiting for the Texas UPLC to take action on a complaint about Celis he had filed in May 2007.

Via Texas Lawyer.

Summary: A personal injury lawyer from Westport is charged with stealing over $600,000 from his clients.

As of Monday, Stephen Krawitz, a personal injury lawyer from Westport, has been charged of doing the thinkable: stealing large sums of money from his clients. He won settlements for 18 clients between Nov. 3, 2008 and March 12, 2014, but in all cases but two pocketed the full settlement.

Krawitz, 62, has bagged an estimated $600,000 from his clients, who are mostly elderly. One of them, Robert Rough, 74, received a $100,000 settlement after suffering a car accident in 2008 that damaged his nerves making him unable to keep his business. Krawitz stole $65,000 from him, and kept the news of the settlement secret for years, despite his family’s inquiries. Rough finally died of cancer this year, without receiving any portion of his own money.

Another of his victims included a 96-year-old great-grandmother, and many were older clients.

Krawitz owned Stephen R. Krawitz, a personal injury law practice. Through his firm he earned about $935,000 for his clients, but in most cases failed to inform them if they won the settlement.

According to a release from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, the 21-count indictment against him includes two counts of scheme to defraud and 19 counts of grand larceny.

Summary: A lawyer admits to illegally practicing law in New York for 15 years.

Dennis M. McGrath has represented clients in New York for 15 years, being paid $165,000 to represent indigents for the Erie County Bar Association Aid to Indigent Prisoner’s Society. But, in what is being called an “outrage,” McGrath, 57, was not licensed in New York to practice law, though he was licensed in Ohio and had been practicing law for 30 years. This is why he has been charged with, and admitted to, unauthorized practice of law and second-degree larceny.

But is it so bad, for all that? Listen in to District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III, who calls it outrageous that McGrath defrauded his clients and further, “was taking public funds to represent people too poor to hire an attorney,” as the Buffalo News reported. “And he did it for years.”

“In other words, law-abiding taxpayers already called upon to finance legal representation for criminal defendants who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer themselves, were defrauded of nearly $165,000 while McGrath was under the keen supervision of the assigned-counsel program.”

Perhaps all that is overblown. The guy was licensed to practice law after all. Perhaps McGrath’s attorney, Mark R. Uba, makes more sense when he points out that McGrath had a law degree from the University of Toledo, and further, “He is a seasoned attorney with 30 years of experience. He has done a lot of good for a lot of people during his career.”

Sure, he lied. That is, when asked if he was licensed to practice in New York, he said he was in the process of admission to the New York Bar.

“Apparently nobody in the assigned-counsel program checked his credentials,” steamed Sedita. “That’s how he got away with it.”

This assumes somehow that McGrath was a total screw up and didn’t do what he was hired to do, rather than fudging some red tape. Certainly lying each year on the assigned-counsel program’s application form, which asked if he was authorized to practice law in New York, is not a good sign, but does it warrant the punishment Sedita says he may receive?

McGrath has agreed to pay back the $164,485, and further is awaiting a sentencing on March 27 under the rule of Judge Kenneth F Case that could fit him out with 15 years in prison, if he is unfortunate, though his attorney and he himself, naturally, are hoping for something more lenient.

Summary: Estate lawyer Peter Clark was arrested for embezzling $1.8 from client.

An estate lawyer has been charged with fraud for stealing $1.8 million from the town of Oxford, after embezzling from a recently deceased client. Woodbury attorney Peter M. Clark was arrested Thursday morning, presented before federal court in Bridgeport thereafter, and released to his family’s custody before the end of the day.

Clark represented Miriam Strong in drafting the will for her estate, valued at above $4 million. It is reported she was unaware of any embezzlement on Clark’s part.

Of the money he allegedly stole, the town was to receive a considerable amount to help them buy a library building, and to buy undeveloped land for public use. They are now re-evaluating those projects.

“We are going to have to ask the people of the town to fund the library to a greater extent,” said Oxford First Selectman George Temple Thursday. “So definitely, this has at least slowed down the plans. And, also, we have almost a million dollars in open space land to purchase, and we are not going to be able to do that.”

Among the purchases Clark supposedly made with money embezzled from his client’s funds include an all-terrain vehicle.

Regarding his arrest, Temple said, “Justice has to be done. I’m a lawyer. I do believe that somebody’s innocent until proven guilty. But he’s got a tough case, a real tough case. I have my suspicions. He’s probably paying off estates that he stole from, using this estate. But you ought to see the tan he has.”

The last statement was probably an allusion to time spent in tropical vacation locations. The earlier statement about paying off other estates relates to a 2008 incident in which Clark was investigated for misusing client funds. He was not charged at the time, but was ordered to attend three legal education classes. Those classes, it seems, did not change his conduct.

News Source: Courant

Summary: An ex-lawyer disbarred for stealing from clients landed a decade-long job teaching by lying about his past.

Would you not be known to do a thing, never do it. Sound, simple, practical advice, but assuming that like David Jampol, 58, you’ve been disbarred from practicing law, and this for stealing $64,000 from clients, how to move on? After all, having a criminal history is sure to haunt you.

And so Jampol lied about his past. When applying for a job with the Department of Education a decade ago, he was asked on the “moral questionnaire” whether he ever “had a professional certificate or license denied, revoked, or suspended,” and he answered “No.”

We can expect in this life that if we’ve done some wrong, sooner or later, others will know. In the case of the DOE, they could have simply googled David to discover a 2004 court document detailing his dealings with former clients. Why they didn’t do this they have as yet not explained.

Jampol, meanwhile, in the past ten years, has taught at the Urban Action Academy on the Canarsie campus in Brooklyn.

Sometimes it isn’t a matter of simply being moral, but it also is a matter of being practical, to own up to past mistakes that could otherwise return as a condemning specter.

Summary: Lawyer Mark Bartlett is facing a motion to determine if the money his client paid him, which was stolen, renders representation a conflict of interest.

What to do when the money your client pays you counts as evidence against him? Attorney Mark Bartlett is faced with this conflict in representing Washington state Auditor Troy Kelley, who is accused of stealing money from clients of his former business at a real estate services firm. Per Kelley’s explanation, he stole no money, but was retaining it. However, after he was told in March he was likely to be indicted, he transferred $447,000 to the IRS and $908,000 to Davis Wright Tremaine, the law firm defending him.

This counts as evidence he was using the money supposedly retained for clients for his own personal benefit. This complicates things. If Kelley claims he did so on the advice of counsel, the situation could get sticky for Bartlett, and thus the judge overseeing the case must decide whether all this amounts to a conflict of interest.

“The payments to Davis Wright Tremaine and to the United States government constitute evidence that – contrary to his statements in tax returns and to IRS special agents – Kelley in fact possessed and controlled the money in the Vanguard account, rather than holding it in impound for the benefit of third parties,” prosecutors wrote. “If Kelly in fact believed that the money appropriately should be held in an impound account … Kelley could not plausibly have decided in March 2015 that he was simply entitled to convert the money to his own benefit.”

Bartlett may have to cross-examine lawyers at their firm to ascertain whether they would have to serve as witnesses for how Kelley handled the money. The motion filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court seeks Judge Ronald Leighton to determine if this counts as a conflict of interest for the defendant’s lawyer.

Summary: Lawyer Timothy Flaherty has been indicted for witness tampering.

Boston defense attorney Timothy Flaherty, 50, has been indicted for tampering with a witness in a possible federal civil rights case. Upon defending a client accused of assaulting a man and yelling anti-Muslim slurs, Flaherty is accused of contacting the victim, apologizing for his client, and telling him to refuse to cooperate further with prosecutors on the case.

Flaherty, son of former House speaker Charles Flaherty, further met with the victim, the indictment alleges, giving him $2,500 not to testify. He also instructed the man to tell the Middlesex District Attorney’s office “I have no interest in this. I’d have to come to court, I really don’t want anything to do with it. Um, you know the guy had a bad day and I’m just not going to testify.”

Flaherty could face up to 20 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000, if convicted of tampering with the client. His lawyer, Thomas Butters, did not return a phone call for further comments.

“The alleged actions run counter to Attorney Flaherty’s well known reputation as a skilled trial lawyer,” said Martin Healy, chief legal counsel for the Massachusetts Bar Association.

News Source: WCVB

Summary: A lawyer has been indicted for fraud who claimed to represent 40,000 clients in BP spill.

It would have been one of the most extensive client lists ever represented in court: 40,000 clients seeking compensation for BP’s notorious oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Of the lawyers who descended on the area, Mikal C. Watts exceeded all of them in clients represented. But now that is being called into question.

Of the 44,000 clients supposedly represented, 40 percent of the Social Security numbers belong to somebody else, and 5 percent belong to deceased persons.

Of the Social Security numbers that match up, the clients are claiming they did not even know they were signed up.

This is why Watts has been indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Mississippi. He is represented by Robert. B McDuff, and will appear in court sometime next week.

“He believed these clients were real people who had suffered real injury,” said his lawyer. He had been given “inaccurate information,” for some clients. He also said that Watts had “been paid no money in the BP cases.”

“After years of waiting, I will now finally have my day in court,” said Watts in a statement. “I look forward to a speedy trial and the opportunity to prove to a jury that I am not guilty of any crimes.

News Source: NYTimes

Summary: L.A. Unified once again fires the lawyer who blamed a student for having sex with a middle school teacher.

Public outcry goes a long way in determining how the law is done. Consider W. Keith Wyatt, who has provided 28 years of “outstanding legal work.” He has nevertheless been fired for the second time by L.A. Unified, and this not for his work for firm Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt, in which he argued and won in court with the argument that the sexual misconduct of a teacher with a 14-year-old girl could not have reasonably been known by the school authorities. Instead, it was his personal comments regarding the case to a local radio station that have drawn fire and inspired public outcry.

“Making a decision as to whether or not to cross the street when traffic is coming, that takes a level of maturity and that’s a much more dangerous decision than to decide, ‘Hey, I want to have sex with my teacher,’” Wyatt said on public radio station KPCC-FM.

See more articles about teachers having sex with students:

• High School Spanish Teacher Accused of Seducing Student at School — Booze, Sexts, and More
• Oregon Teacher Charged for Sex with Multiple Students
• Two Louisiana Teachers Booked for Group Sex with Boy
• English Teacher Brianne Altice Charged with Sexually Abusing 15-Year-Old Student

So, basically, he claimed the 14-year-old girl was at least partially responsible for the sexual misconduct of the teacher involved, former Edison Middle School teacher, Elkis Hermida.

“Under the totality of the circumstances, it’s in the district’s best interests to take this action at this time,” said General Counsel David Holmquist, who had previously defended Wyatt over this issue.

Wyatt himself could not be reached for comment.

This is the second time the school has been pressured by public outcry to drop the attorney. He will not be working with them further, and even his firm is losing four cases, being handled by other lawyers. Whether the school will continue to work with this firm in the future has not yet been decided.

“There’s been a lot of attention surrounding his out-of-court statements, making it increasingly difficult for us to do the work that we do, and to properly represent the district,” Holmquist said.

News Source: LATimes

James Stewart Robinson’s mugshot. (Handout)

Summary: The former attorney who slit his dog’s throat has been sentenced.

A Birmingham attorney who pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and domestic violence, after he slit the family dog’s throat in 2012 and texted a picture of it to his now ex-wife, was sentenced to probation last Friday. James Stewart Robinson, 48, was also ordered to spend one day in jail for contacting his ex-wife, violating a sanction against it.

The contact seemed innocuous enough. He had emailed her a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year message last December, according to an AL.com report. “Not threatening or ugly, really just Merry Christmas. But, [his ex-wife] didn’t like him contacting her even in that way, according to the DA, and she contacted them about it,” Robinson’s attorney, John Wiley, explained.

Retired Clay Count Circuit Judge John Rochester had been specially appointed to hear the case and had ordered at the time of Robinson’s plea in July to cut contact with his ex-wife, “So, after sentencing, he [Rochester] ordered him [Robinson] to serve 24 hours in jail as a sanction for violating his previous order,” Wiley stated.

“We are very happy to have this unfortunate incident finally resolved and we believe that the resolution reached is a good, fair, and appropriate one,” Wiley said in an email to AL.com.

The incident regards how hard Robinson took the news of his wife filing for divorce in 2012 when he lost weeks of sleep and intensified his addiction to Adderall, which he took for ADHD. Finally he killed Rufus, an American Staffordshire bull terrier, on June 17, 2012, and texted a picture of the dog’s slit throat this his wife with a voice mail saying “your day is coming girl.”

“Rufus was a very loving dog and I am horrified that I crossed a line that never in a million years I thought I would cross,” Robinson said during his plea last July.

Robinson was sentenced to two concurrent sentences: Five-years suspended sentence and three-years supervised probation for the class C felony cruelty to animals case for slitting the dog’s throat, and to a one-year suspended sentence with two-years supervised probation on misdemeanor domestic violence harassment charge for texting and voice-mailing the threat.

Robinson has been on inactive status as a lawyer since his arrest. On June 22, 2012, he was suspended on an interim basis, but filed a petition, granted July 10, 2012, to transfer that to “disability inactive status.”

Source: AL.com

Photo credit: Jason Morrison/FreeImages

Summary: A lawyer is being sanctioned $100,000 for making a frivolous suit, PennLive reports.

A Pennsylvania lawyer is facing a huge sanction after a federal judge called his attempt to extort a settlement baseless, PennLive reports. Judge Matthew W. Brann ordered Donald P. Russo to pay the legal fees of the parties his client had sued, which total more than $100,000.

Russo represented Ernest Keister, who claimed age discrimination against his employer, PPL Susquehanna LLC. Russo failed even in getting the company’s name correct, calling them PPL Corp and PPL services as defendants, The Morning Call reported. Russo also missed multiple filing deadlines and produced no evidence at all that employer PPL discriminated against Keister. Instead, he dragged the case on for three years.

The judge granted the motions of PPL and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to make Russo responsible for legal costs, saying Russo kept the lawsuit alive as “a sort of litigious necromancy conjured up by Mr. Russo’s specious filings to coerce the defendants into settling a meritless claim.”

Keister was 67 when he claimed PPL hired younger employees for the same position he held and denied him a pay raise or new job classification. Nevertheless, upon questioning, he could point to nobody younger than him who was given a pay raise or title upgrade upon request. The case was finally dismissed, in part, because Keister should have filed a grievance with his union before suing and the suit was filed after deadline.

Russo objected to the $100,000 fee saying that federal appeals courts have ruled that these sanctions should consider the party’s ability to pay. He is, after all, a sole practitioner.

Nevertheless, Brann pointed out that other federal judges have described Russo’s work as “dubious,” “troubling,” “silly” and “riddled with credibility shortcomings.”

Source: PennLive

Source: The Morning Call

Photo credit: Jason Morrison/FreeImages

Photo credit: Jason Morrison/FreeImages

Summary: Lawyer who faces trial for attempted murder turns down plea deal.

An attorney who is on trial for the attempted murder of his girlfriend turned down a plea deal on Tuesday that would have cleared him from a prison sentence, NJ.com reported.

Todd Gorman, who is based in Secaucus, New Jersey, met Stephanie Schwartz in a suicide chat room on the Internet. Although they both had good jobs, they suffered from alcoholism and depression. This led to a troubled relationship.

Gorman now stands trial for attempted murder during a 2011 incident at the couple’s home. 11 months after that incident, Schwartz committed suicide.

“Now is the time if you want to do this, sir, because the jurors are coming tomorrow, and they are ready to hear the case,” Judge Mark Nelson said to Gorman, according to NJ.com.

But Gorman’s defense lawyer, Peter Willis, says Gorman wants to see this through trial. “He has reasoning in his mind that he is not guilty of this crime — that is the main reason,” and further, he would probably lose his license to practice law if he took the plea deal.

Police responded to a 911 call on the day of the incident, and heard Schwartz screaming “Help, help, he’s stabbing me,” Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Tracy McQuaide said in her opening statement.

Guns leveled, the police entered, and found Gorman “sitting on the floor with Stephanie in front of him with his arms and legs around her. They are covered in blood. The floor is covered in blood. Everything is covered in blood.”

An officer kicked Gorman in the face and wrenched Schwartz from his grasp. He kicked Gorman till he was out cold, and then an ambulance took Schwartz to Jersey City Medical Center-Barnabas where she received medical attention for her cuts on her forearm, forehead, back of head and chest.

Willis called this account of the events something “of a fable,” and said “you don’t present false testimony in a grand jury and indict a person based on false testimony and you will be witness to it.”

Though Gorman doesn’t recall the events of that night, he recalls telling a police officer, “I wasn’t trying to kill her. I was trying to stop her from killing herself.”

Willis will present a case that Schwartz was violent, breaking two of Gorman’s ribs on one occasion and two of his teeth with a shovel on another occasion, and that Gorman suffered defensive wounds on his hands during the night in question. He’ll also argue that Schwartz attempted to kill herself that night, and Gorman was preventing her from doing so, “holding her as tight as he could so she couldn’t hurt herself and she couldn’t hurt him anymore.”

The judge warned Gorman that the attempted murder charge may come with a 10- to 20-year prison term, whereas the probation plea deal for aggravated assault held no such risk. Gorman felt it was worth the risk.

Sources:

Secaucus lawyer on trial for attempting to kill girlfriend he met in suicide chat room, defense says (NJ.com)

Secaucus lawyer accused of attempted murder turns down plea deal (NJ.com)

Photo credit: Jason Morrison/FreeImages

Summary: A bankruptcy judge ordered the arrest of no-show lawyer a few weeks ago.

A bankruptcy judge in Palm Beach Florida ordered the arrest of a lawyer, hoping to jail her until she complies with a litany of complaints.

Bankruptcy attorney Tina Talarchyk is being held in contempt of court for failing to show up for a show-cause hearing on Tuesday, January 19th, but Talarchyk claims she needed to obtain medical attention for her daughter’s “serious gum condition,” and further, that she thought the hearing was a status conference for which her lawyer could appear in her place.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Olson is concerned with more than that. Olson approved for Talarchyk to receive $12,800 in payment for her work in the case, and she may have received a $50,000 retainer and failed to pay the client back. The judge ordered her four times to produce her accounting of the payment, but Talarchyk ignored the requests.

Thus the judge ordered her arrest, saying, “The incarceration of Talarchyk is intended to be coercive and does not in any way constitute punitive sanction. Talarchyk is in complete possession of the keys to her jail cell.”

Talarchyk’s former bankruptcy partner, David Lloyd Merrill, said in an unsworn court filing that Talarchyk claimed she would tell the court that Merrill took half of the $50,000 retainer for alimony payment to his ex-wife. Merrill called the allegation “nonsense.”

Talarchyk’s lawyer, Douglas Broeker, claimed his client is working to meet each of the judge’s requests.

“This is just a conflict between the judge and Tina,” said Broeker. “Her client in this case wrote an affidavit saying she was completely satisfied with Tina’s work.”

Talarchyk’s motion further claimed the the judge’s orders “give rise to an appearance of partiality, antagonism, vengeance, and other judicially inappropriate conduct,” saying the court has given her critical orders “tagged for publication,” that are “upsetting, intimidating, intrusive, and debilitating.”

The Daily Business Review, for its part, claims Olson is known for sanctioning lawyers.

Source: ABAJournal

Christopher Chadick. Photo courtesy of Syracuse.com.

Summary: A Syracuse lawyer was caught lying about being too ill to work in order to collect Social Security benefits.

Convicted fraudulent lawyer Christopher Chadick got sentenced again. Yesterday, a judge ruled that the Syracuse attorney must serve six months of weekends in jail and five years of probation for stealing social security, Syracuse.com reports.

Chadick was caught fraudulently collecting almost $250,000 in social security payments while still doing legal work. During the period of April 2003 to August 2010, he claimed Social Security disability, saying he had Cushing’s disease, which supposedly prevented him from working. Chadick’s public defender said he did have the disease, which had created an excess growth in his pituitary gland and hospitalized him 10 times. The defender said the disease made him too tired to work and he also suffers from depression.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamara Thomson said Chadick was lying about being too ill to work, and his abuse was more egregious because he was an attorney.

“As a lawyer, the defendant knew better,” Thomson said in a memorandum.

Federal sentencing guidelines recommend 15 to 21 months in prison for his crime, but U.S. District Judge Glenn Suddaby showed Chadick mercy and lessened his time so that he could get a job and pay back the money he stole.

Chadick must pay back $100 a month or 10% of his gross income, whichever is greater. Until yesterday’s sentencing, Chadick had been receiving $1,672 a month in Social Security benefits.

This is not the first time that Chadick has been caught being a fraudster. In 2011, he was sentenced to a few years in prison after taking a retainer fee from dozens of clients but never doing any legal work for them. In addition to serving prison time, he ended up paying restitution to 45 clients and was disbarred.

Source: Syracuse

Summary:  A former attorney from Fort Lauderdale has been charged with keeping the settlement money from his clients’ cases for his own use.

Detectives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida have arrested a former attorney on grand theft charges. William Hutchinson, 70, has been accused of keeping his clients’ settlement money for himself. He was booked into Broward County Jail on $125,000 bond. Hutchinson is only allowed to post bail once authorities can confirm the money is his own and not from the settlements.

Hutchinson settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $675,000 several years ago. The father of the victim hired another lawyer that went to police to look into why he never received any of the money. The arrest report confirmed that a review of his bank records showed that he “used a substantial portion of the settlement funds well in excess of $100,000 to pay personal and business expenses.”

The investigation details how Hutchinson withdrew money to pay the parents of the wrongful death victim but used money from another settlement to do so. The other settlement was from a personal injury cases against an insurance company. The victim in that case has also never seen any of the settlement money.

He is accused of misappropriating the funds from a third settlement of $100,000 in a personal injury case. The victim received $10,000 but then he kept a third of the settlement as attorney fees before the client had signed off on the case.

Hutchinson admitted to the shortage of money in a letter to the Florida Bar. He wrote that he was self-reporting a shortage of nearly $272,000 in his trust account. He said, “I apologize and please know that I intend to pay this shortage in full and have placed my home and office building for sale.” He was disbarred due to the first incident of not turning over the settlement money to the parents of the wrongful death suit.

Hutchinson is being defended by David Bogenschutz.

Do you think there should be a change how attorneys can access settlement money to prevent this from happening? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

To learn more about attorneys being dishonest, read these articles:

Setting Up Another Attorney Will Get You Enemies and May Get You Disbarred

Disbarred Attorney Caught Stealing Again

Disbarred Attorney Embezzles $737K From Milwaukee Law Firm

Photo: flickr.com

Summary: A San Antonio area attorney coerced clients to perform sexual acts in return for legal representation and recorded the acts, one of which involved a young girl.

A San Antonio attorney has made some very bad choices, landing him behind bars. Mark Benavides was originally charged with 35 sexual assault charges including compelling prostitution in April. Sexual assault of a child charges have been added to the list. He now faces 39 counts of sex charges.

Clients claim that Benavides forced them into providing sex acts in return for representation. He recorded some of the sexual encounters, 250 in total. Three of his clients came forward last year, which prompted the investigation and arrest.

Read Another Bad Lawyer Steals from Clients.

The child abuse claim stems from an encounter on January 29, 2011 when he “intentionally and knowingly” had oral and sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old girl. A video of the acts were discovered last November when he was originally arrested for coercing clients to have sex with him for legal representation.

Last year when he was first arrested, Benavides claimed he was innocent, stating, “They’re all false accusations. It’s very frustrating when you try to help somebody, hold their hand through the process, and then they turn around and stab you in the back by making stuff up about you.”

See Embezzling Louisville Lawyer Sentenced to Four Years in Prison.

Benavides posted a $250,000 bond. He has requested a change of venue but was denied by Judge Dick Alcala. His attorney, Monica Guerrero said, “There was a lot of media publicity on this case, and because he is an attorney, and because he ran for public office, we’re asking for a change of venue, so we can go somewhere else where everybody doesn’t know him.”

Prosecutors argued that their reasons to change the venue did not match with the criteria of the media being pervasive or inflammatory. Assistant District Attorney Meredith Chacon said, “The victims in this case are citizens of Bexar County. The defendant is a citizen of Bexar County, and the citizens of Bexar County deserve to hear this case. There’s no reason to change the venue.”

Do you think Benavides can receive a fair trial in Brexar County or should the case be relocated to another county? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

To learn more about other bad lawyers, read Greedy Ft Lauderdale Attorney Kept Clients’ Settlements.

Photo: mysanantonio.com

Summary: The Florida Supreme Court was forced to discipline 16 attorneys, ranging in punishment from disbarment to probation.

Sixteen attorneys received punishments from the Florida State Supreme Court. One attorney was publicly reprimanded, one had their license revoked, six were disbarred, and eight suspended.

William Robert Cohen is from Fort Lauderdale. He was admitted to the bar in 1997. He has been suspended until further notice. Cohen was found in contempt for failure to respond to an official Bar inquiry.

John Christopher Getzinger is from Coral Springs. He was admitted to the practice just a few years ago in 2009. He has been disbarred for several issues, including engaging in unlicensed practice of law. Getzinger failed to appear at a final hearing or to respond to the official Florida Bar inquiry. He failed to communicate with clients adequately or to supervise non-lawyer employees.

Kendra Lee Jowers is from Orlando and was admitted in 2010. She has been suspended for 30 days and then will be on probation for three years. She will be required to participate in a Florida Lawyers Assistance Program. She pleaded no contest to driving under the influence, a violation of her driver’s license restriction and three separate battery matters.

Charles Jay Kane and Harley Nathan Kane from Delray Beach have been disbarred. Charles was admitted in 1965 while Harley was admitted in 1993. They have a condition of readmission where they must satisfy a civil judgment. Charles’s law firm and two other firms were hired by health care providers to provide representation against insurance companies in personal injury protection claims. The insurance companies included Progressive. It was found that Progressive was systematically declining to pay legitimate insurance claims. Bad-faith claims were filed for the clients by the law firms. Charles and his son Harley, who is his business partner, received $5.25 million in a settlement from Progressive. The two men gave their clients $672,000 and kept the remaining $4.5 million as attorney fees. The other attorneys sued Kane for unjust enrichment and fraud.

Darin James Lentner is from Fort Lauderdale. He was admitted to the bar in 1991 and has also been disbarred. Lentner was also involved in the above Progressive case. Him and his business partner Laura Watson received $3 million from Progressive in a settlement. They paid their clients $361,000 and kept over $2 million as attorney fees.

Kelly Anne McCabe is from Pinellas Park. She was admitted in 2004. She has been publicly reprimanded in the Southern Reporter and has been placed on probation for one year. She missed court deadlines and failed to follow court orders for appeals, showing a lack of competence in appellate procedures. An audit of her trust account showed she was also failing to maintain her trust account records properly.

Ashby A. McClanahan Jr. from Sanford has been suspended for 30 days. McClanahan Jr. was admitted in 1978. He overdrew his trust account when he removed $69,000 of the funds and placed them in a safe deposit box at another bank. An audit showed he was not complying with the rules governing trust accounts. He has also not paid hi employer IRS tax obligation properly.

Hector Pagan Jr. from Ocala has been disbarred after only being admitted for ten years. Pagan Jr. closed his law firm without notifying his clients. He failed to refund unearned fees and unexpended costs.

Maria Elena Perez is from Coral Gables, She has been suspended for 92 days. She has been admitted to practice for 15 years. A Florida Bar referee discovered that Perez provided information during the Nevin Shapiro Ponzi-scheme case from bankruptcy witnesses with the NCAA in an investigation of the University of Miami. In another case she did not provide diligent and competent representation for a client.

Neil Wayne Platock, admitted in 1985, has been suspended for one year. Platock is from Port St. Lucie. He was found to be not in compliance with a Feb. 1 suspension order. He was required to notify clients, opposing counsel and tribunals of his suspension, then to provide the Bar in 30 days a sworn affidavit with names and addresses of those given a copy of his suspension order.

Tracy Preston Preece of Titusville was admitted in 1999. Preece did not communicate adequately or represent a client through a dissolution of marriage case diligently. He then failed to respond to official Bar inquiries or participate in the discipline process.

Christopher M. Stephenson of Orlando has been suspended until further notice after being admitted for only 14 years. He failed to respond to an official Bar inquiry.

Elizabeth Karen Touchton of Gainesville was admitted to practice 6 years ago. She had her license revoked with the ability to seek readmission after five years. The allegations against her include commingling trust funds, other trust fund violations, and drafting a power of attorney for two elderly women where she had complete authority over compensating her legal fees.

Stephen Proctor Tourtelot from St. Petersburg has been suspended. He was found in contempt for not responding to an official Bar inquiry.

Robert Philip Tuerk of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has been suspended for three years. He was admitted to the state in 2002. He did not comply with a March 24 suspension order. He was required to notify clients, opposing counsel and tribunals of his suspension and then give a list to the Bar within 30 days of the names and addresses of those that had been given a copy of his suspension order.

To read about other bad lawyers, read:

Another Bad Lawyer Steals from Clients

Embezzling Louisville Lawyer Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

New York Lawyer Allegedly Faked Mother’s Death, Own Illness to Skip Court

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Summary: A San Antonio lawyer has been accused of forging the signatures of multiple judges in an attempt to hide facts from a client.

An elaborate scheme concocted to hide the status of a 2009 lawsuit from a client involved forging various judges’ signatures was discovered. San Antonio lawyer Todd Prins has been accused of fabricating court documents.

Attorney Jason Davis is representing the clients, William and Karen Ozer. Davis told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Craig Gargotta during an emergency court hearing, “My clients were completely bamboozled. It’s rare to put in a pleading ‘unprecedented fraud’ and not have that perceived as some sort of hyperbole. In this case, it is unprecedented to forge federal judges’ signatures.”

The emergency hearing was held after new information surfaced from the details of Prins and his wife Paula’s personal bankruptcy liquidation case. The Ozers filed the new lawsuit alleging that Prins committed fraud and breaching fiduciary duty.

Prins allegedly manufactured signatures of Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hect, U.S. District Court Judge Fred Biery, and state District Judge Solomon J. Casseb III. The lawsuit also included forged communications from former San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

The lawsuit is seeking to freeze any assets in the Prins Law Firm’s trust account that should belong to the Ozers, if any money exists. Prins was not at the hearing because he was on vacation in another country.

The 2009 case that Prins was representing the Ozers in was a lawsuit against San Antonio commercial real estate firm REOC Partners and others. Ozer was seeking $500,000 in damages for what he claimed was the real estate firms breach in fiduciary duty to him and other investors. The forged papers made the Ozers believe the case will still ongoing despite the truth that Prins received a $1.6 million settlement that he claimed was “frozen” because of court appeals. After filing for personal bankruptcy, Prins issued a promissory note for $1.6 million to the Ozers.

Gargotta noted that forging a judge’s signature is a felony, and he alleged forged multiple signatures.

Why do you think an attorney would forge signatures, knowing how serious of a crime it is to do so? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

To learn more about other bad lawyers, read:

Lawyer Sanctioned for $100,000 for Wasting Court’s Time

Lawsuit Says Teenager Forced to Have Sex with Lawyer during Job Interview

Miami Lawyer Caught Forging Judges Signatures

Photo: newslocker.com

Summary: A Texas lawyer has been accused by two women of sending sexual explicit text messages offering the exchange of sex for legal services.

A Lake Jackson lawyer has been accused of sending texts soliciting sex as a form of payment for legal services to two women. The two women claim in court documents that Stan Simiskey sent them sexually explicit text messages, offering an exchange of sex for legal work.

Simiskey is a former Brazoria County assistant district attorney that has since moved to private practice. A Brazoria County grand jury indicted him last week. He now faces two counts of harassment and prostitution, all class B misdemeanors. He was released on $2,500 bond the same day as his arrest.

One woman that complained to the Brazoria County District Attorney’s office was a client of Simiskey while the other woman was the relative of a client. District Attorney Jeri Yenne said the allegations were investigated and turned over the grand jury.

His attorney Charles Adams said he plans to “aggressively defend” his client. Adams explained, “Stan is a long-time resident of Brazoria County and is a former assistant district attorney. This came out of left field.” Simiskey was the District Attorney from 2007 to 2010.

Adams added, “He’s a true public servant. When they brought the allegations, I was shocked. I can’t imagine he committed these alleged acts, but I’m hopeful we’ll be able to exonerate him. He’s a wonderful person.”

The women claim he texted them obscene comments, including that he was willing to accept sexual acts for legal services. If convicted, he will face up to 6 months in jail and a $2,000 fine. The complaint has also been filed with the State Bar of Texas.

Do you think lawyers think they are above the law? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

To learn more about other bad lawyers, read these articles:

San Antonio Lawyer Forged Signatures

Embezzling Louisville Lawyer Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

Lawyer Sanctioned for $100,000 for Wasting Court’s Time

Photo: flickr.com

Summary: A highly regarded attorney in Hollywood years ago will now be sitting behind bars for up to a year for money-laundering conspiracy.

Once a famous attorney, now nothing more than a has-been that is sitting behind bars. Alan Koslow was Hollywood’s city attorney from 1990 to 1993 but had to resign after a scandal arose.

Koslow was charged with money-laundering conspiracy five months ago. Since then he has lost everything. His marriage is over, he no longer has a law license, and his reputation as an effective attorney and lobbyist in Florida is ruined.  Now Koslow is finding himself without freedom.

U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas sentenced Koslow to a year and a day behind bars plus a $7,500 fine and $8,500 in restitution after pleading guilty in August to the federal charge of money-laundering conspiracy. A reduced sentence was recommended by the prosecution and defense because of his cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI.

He has met with FBI agents around 75 times between 2013 and 2016. What occurred during the meetings is confidential because there are still ongoing investigations. However, it was mentioned by the judge that Koslow committed additional crimes by using cocaine during while cooperating with the FBI.

When Koslow gave his statement in court, he thanked the judge for allowing him to complete rehab. He also took complete responsibility for his actions, which were probably worsened due to his failure to take his lithium prescription for years for bipolar disorder diagnosed in 2004. He said, “I’m turning it around. I can still do a lot of good. You’ll never see me again, ever, except in good times.”

An FBI sting caught Koslow helping “quasi-mafia” criminals hide the source of $220,000 related to illegal gambling and drug dealing of cocaine and counterfeit Viagra. He was first caught in 2013 at a Fort Lauderdale hotel room but only charged this year. He stayed undercover to help agents gather more information on other people’s crimes.

With good behavior, Koslow should serve just over ten months. The sentencing guidelines would have put him in prison for three to four years.

Koslow has done a lot of good for his community, raising at least $9.5 million for local groups such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Do you think he should be required to pay for restitution? Tell us in the comments below.

To learn more about other bad lawyers, read these articles:

• San Antonio Lawyer Forged Signatures
• Texas Lawyer Accused of Sending Inappropriate Texts
• Embezzling Louisville Lawyer Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

Photo: flickr.com