Lawyer resigns from bar after he is accused of forging prosecutor's signature
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Ethics regulators in Massachusetts have accepted the resignation of a lawyer who was accused of signing an assistant U.S. attorney’s name to a settlement agreement in litigation against the U.S. government.
The Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers of the Supreme Judicial Court accepted the resignation of lawyer Kenneth M. Levine of Brookline, Massachusetts, in an order that took effect March 31, report Bloomberg Law and the Legal Profession Blog.
Levine admitted that bar counsel could prove by a preponderance of evidence that:
• He signed the settlement agreement without the federal prosecutor’s knowledge or consent.
• The agreement contained terms different than those accepted by the government.
• His representation to a judge that the unauthorized signature was inadvertent was intentionally false, misleading and deceptive.
• He sought reimbursement for litigation expenses that he intentionally inflated, and he submitted false invoices to support the expenses claim in the ethics case.
• He intentionally misrepresented material facts when questioned under oath by bar counsel.
The Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County rejected a previous resignation offer because of an insufficient admission to the alleged misconduct.
