Solos/Small Firms

Trial Set in Land-Swindle Case Involving Lawyers as Defendants, Judge as Alleged Conspirator

A trial is set for December in a Texas land-swindle case that includes two lawyers among the defendants and accuses a local judge of helping them fleece owners of millions in property and mineral rights. Attorneys Brian Russ, Jr. and James McCullough are among 18 defendants originally named in the…

Jul 22, 2010 6:03 PM CDT

Bookkeeper Accused of Stealing $176K from Florida Law Firm

In the latest report of an alleged theft from a law firm by an employee trusted with access to its funds, the office manager and bookkeeper of a Clearwater, Fla., law firm has been accused of stealing $176,000 from her employer of six years. Questions were raised about Kerry Sue…

Jul 21, 2010 4:57 PM CDT

UK Lawyer Debuts New ‘Annuity-Based’ Law Firm Whose Clients are Also Law Firm Investors

Forget cash flow. Equity is where it’s at, as far as the law firm of the future is concerned, predicts a well-known lawyer who is now venturing out to stake his claim to this brave new world. Only three years ago, Matthew Hudson was about to take the helm of…

Jul 19, 2010 10:43 PM CDT

US Labor Dept. Files ERISA Suit Against Eichholz Law Firm and Ex-CEO

The U.S. Department of Labor sued a Georgia personal injury firm and its former chief executive officer this week, contending that they improperly transferred, lent or used retirement plan assets in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. In addition to seeking reimbursement of the missing money, the Savannah…

Jul 16, 2010 4:52 PM CDT

Looming 30-Day Jail Term Is Sad Chapter in Career of Renowned Trial Lawyer

A well-known Oregon trial attorney, Mike Shinn scored many victories over his 36-year legal career. Perhaps best known is the civil wrongful death case he pursued against a now-convicted murderer of another Portland lawyer, Cheryl Keeton. It led to the successful prosecution of her estranged husband and killer, Brad Cunningham.…

Jul 15, 2010 12:14 AM CDT

Lawyer Gets 30 Days and Must Wear Alcohol-Detection Device After 5th DUI Arrest

An Illinois personal injury lawyer was sentenced to 30 days in jail and must wear an ankle device to detect whether he has been drinking after his conviction in a jury trial last year for aggravated drunken driving causing great bodily harm. The suburban Chicago case resulted from Timothy Winfield’s…

Jul 13, 2010 5:22 PM CDT

Judge Reads 100-Page Instructions to Jury Trying Ex-Attorney Accused of $4M Client Theft

A Florida judge began reading 100 pages of instructions at 9 a.m. today to the jury trying a now-disbarred real estate attorney in a case involving the alleged misappropriation of some $4 million in client funds. It was expected that Senior Judge James Midelis might conclude around 3 p.m., after…

Jul 8, 2010 8:44 PM CDT

Ex-Lawyer Gets 5 Years for Swindling Clients Out of $4.3M

A now-disbarred Georgia lawyer was sentenced today to five years and three months in federal prison for swindling clients out of $4.3 million. M. Dewey Bain, 59, must also pay restitution for the money he took from clients, promising to hold their money in trust and invest it safely but…

Jul 7, 2010 7:47 PM CDT

Fired Staffer Sues State Ethics Comm’n, Claims Retaliation Over Lawyer Moonlighting Complaint

Corrected: Two Georgia attorneys reportedly were operating a private law practice at the same time that they held full-time positions as staff lawyers at the State Ethics Commission. And after another employee blew the whistle on the alleged moonlighting on state time and using state resources, she was the one…

Jul 2, 2010 9:32 PM CDT

2 Small Law Firms Face Trial for Allegedly Aiding Parental Child Abduction

Two New Jersey attorneys and their matrimonial firms are facing a looming trial in a high-profile family law case that centers on a client’s transport of her then-4-year-old child to her native Spain, in violation of a United States parenting agreement. The agreement also called for the lawyer initially representing…

Jul 2, 2010 8:20 PM CDT

No Reason to Go It Alone

ABA membership offers abundant resources to assist solo and small-firm lawyers

Jul 1, 2010 10:00 AM CDT

To Your Health Costs

Reform law likely to affect smaller firms most

Jul 1, 2010 7:40 AM CDT

Solo Lawyer & Office Manager Wife Accused of Stealing $2M From Guardianship Clients

A 71-year-old solo practitioner in Texas and his 70-year-old office manager and wife are facing a 26-count federal indictment for allegedly stealing more than $2 million from the accounts of disabled military veterans for whom he served as a guardian. Joe Phillips, who practices in Houston, and his wife, Dorothy,…

Jun 30, 2010 9:00 PM CDT

Celebrity Lawyer Didn’t Timely Pay $400K in Taxes, But Hopes to Keep Law License & Avoid Prison

A celebrity lawyer known for his defense of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel in a decades-later prosecution over a teenage neighbor’s slaying is now in trouble himself. Michael Sherman today pleaded guilty in federal court in Bridgeport, Conn., to two misdemeanor counts for willfully failing to pay $400,000 in income tax…

Jun 30, 2010 8:40 PM CDT

Pacific Law Center to Close; My Dream Became a Nightmare, Controlling Lawyer Says

Kerry Steigerwalt had a dream that he could turn the troubled Pacific Law Center around. But today the veteran defense attorney announced that he is closing the San Diego-based consumer law firm he purchased a little over two years ago, describing it as a “management nightmare,” according to NBC San…

Jun 30, 2010 7:53 PM CDT