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New York Magazine tells the saga of “The Baddest Lawyer in the History of Jersey“. How bad?

Clay D., a moon-faced man in his early thirties who, by his own matter-of-fact admission, has spent a good deal of his life “shooting at people” in and around Newark, New Jersey, was talking about his first attorney-client meeting with lawyer Paul Bergrin.

“Someone got killed, and they were trying to put it on me,” remembers Clay, as he asked to be called. “First-degree murder, can’t fuck with that, so I got Paul. He was the biggest name out there. He drove his Bentley down Clinton Avenue, and it was like, ‘Don’t you punks even think about jacking that.’ Everyone said he was wide open. But I didn’t know how wide open until that day. I’m in his office two minutes. He says he’s looked at my case, and only one witness can hurt me. Then he says, ‘Okay, what are we going to do about this person? She’s a user, right? Why don’t we give her a hot shot? Just stick her.’ ”

 

The ABA Journal reports on a young lawyer accused of providing more than legal services:

An Illinois lawyer recently admitted to the bar has been charged with prostitution after police say they discovered emails setting up trysts as part of an unrelated investigation.

Police charged Reema Bajaj of Sycamore with three counts of prostitution, the Daily Chronicle reports. Bajaj allegedly admitted engaging in prostitution before she obtained her law license in November, but said she gave it up after becoming a lawyer, a prosecutor tells the newspaper.

At least she didn’t violate Rule 1.8(j)

The New Jersey Law Journal reports on a recent decision from the New Jersey Supreme Court addressing an issue that arises where an attorney undertakes representation against an individual who has previously communicated with the attorney as a prospective client:

A late-night conversation between the owner of a karaoke bar and an attorney about prospective representation is not enough to disqualify the lawyer from representing a plaintiff in a suit against the owner, the state Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

The court explained the standard for determining when disqualification is required:

[D]isqualification of counsel based on a conversation with a former prospective client will occur only when the movant, generally well-grounded in the written record, satisfies the burden of proving that the matter of the consultation and the matter then adverse are ‘the same or substantially related’ and, at the same time, that the information the lawyer received during the consultation are ‘significantly harmful’ to the former prospective client in the now adverse matter [...]

A bill pending before the North Carolina state legislature would permit non-profit corporations, operating as professional or trade associations, or as business leagues, to offer legal services to their members. Under the bill, such legal services would have to be performed by a North Carolina licensed attorney. At least one other state, Pennsylvania, expressly permits the practice, and some other states have no prohibition against it.

The NC State Bar has voiced opposition to the bill, citing concerns  over conflicts of interest and independence for lawyers practicing under such an arrangement. Proponents counter that these concerns can adequately be addressed through the attorney disciplinary system, and that allowing the practice would make legal services more readily available to individuals and businesses for whom private counsel may be cost prohibitive.

A committee hearing on the bill is scheduled for June 1st.

Attorney Steven D. Miller of the Divorce Deli may be a bit of a ham, but he may cut the mustard if you find yourself in a domestic pickle.

Allentown, PA lawyer John Karoly Jr. faces criminal fraud charges for using a local non-profit foundation and a church to launder money:

In December 2005, Karoly created “The Urban Wilderness Foundation,” became its president and had sole signature authority. On Dec. 6, 2006, Karoly asked the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation to transfer the $500,000 donation he gave them to his Urban Wilderness Foundation, even though he had already taken a tax deduction for this contribution.

When LVCF decided that Urban Wilderness did not qualify as a charity to receive the funds, Karoly allegedly recommended the money be sent as a charitable grant to his church, Dubbs Memorial United Church of Christ of Allentown, which was a tax-exempt qualified organization.

Karoly is already facing charges for wire fraud for “an alleged scheme to defraud the multi-million dollar estates of Karoly’s brother and sister-in-law, Peter Karoly and Lauren Angstadt, by submitting phony wills after the couple was killed in a plane crash.”

(Via Legal Profession Blog)

From an interview with Paul Hastings hiring partner, Leigh Ryan:

For those who make the cut into your summer program, what kind of mistakes do they make?
We take summer associates to client meetings and depositions, and sometimes they behave inappropriately–like not keeping their eyes open or showing up late for a client meeting. It’s also not a good idea to chew gum or check cell phones for text messages during meetings.

The Recorder reports:

Walter Lack received a six-month suspension from practicing before the 9th Circuit due to fraudulent appellate briefs his firm filed in litigation against Dole Food Co. The penalty handed down Tuesday is greater than the one recommended by the court’s own independent prosecutor, and it puts the Engstrom, Lipscomb & Lack partner in a tricky posture vis-a-vis the State Bar.

Lack’s frequent co-counsel, Thomas Girardi of Girardi & Keese in Los Angeles, received only a formal reprimand.

***

The two firms got in trouble while representing hundreds of plaintiffs who claim to have been sickened by pesticides. But lawyers in Central America mistakenly filed a complaint against Dole Food Corp. — which doesn’t exist — instead of Dole Food Co. They then secured a $489 million judgment against the wrong corporate entity.

Lack’s firm took the lead in enforcing the judgment in the United States, and lawyers there relied on a series of documents and representations they knew to be false to mask the error and prosecute the claim against Dole Food Co., according to findings from 9th Circuit Judge A. Wallace Tashima, who acted as a special master in sanctions proceedings against the plaintiffs lawyers.

***

Lack’s long career ultimately hurt him in the 9th Circuit panel’s eyes.

“Substantial legal experience may also be an aggravating factor, because an experienced attorney should know better than to engage in conduct that merits discipline,” the judges wrote.

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