Four Lawyers and Their Marketing Firms Shut Down Amid Fraud Accusations

• Jurisdiction: California,United States
• Citation: Vol. 09 No. 2011 Pg. 04
• Publication year: 2011
• Pages: 04
• topic: Advertising Law,Bankruptcy and Insolvency,Contracts,Criminal Law,Civil Procedure,Real Estate,Consumer Law

California Bar Journal 2011.

CBJ - September 2011 #04. Four lawyers and their marketing firms shut down amid fraud accusations

The California Lawyer
September 2011

Four lawyers and their marketing firms shut down amid fraud accusations

By Nancy McCarthy
Staff Writer

The State Bar of California and Attorney General Kamala Harris last month shut down the operations of several lawyers and marketing firms that have targeted distressed homeowners, urging them through false advertising to sue their mortgage lenders. The bar and the Department of Justice won court orders either assuming jurisdiction over several lawyers' practices or imposing temporary injunctions against the marketing companies.

The bar assumed jurisdiction over the practices of four southern California lawyers, alleging they abdicated their professional responsibilities by using non-lawyers to bring in clients, set fees, provide legal advice and evaluate cases. Harris' office sued four lawyers, three law firms and 14 other defendants accused of working together to defraud homeowners. Marketing firms affiliated with the lawyers sent an estimated 2 million mailers to potential clients in at least 17 states. The lawsuit charges the defendants with, among other things, false advertising, fraudulent business practices, improper fee splitting and failing to register with the Department of Justice as a telephonic seller.

The State Bar and Harris acted after the bar received complaints from several victims, developed evidence about widespread fraudulent advertising and marketing practices and took the evidence to the Department of Justice. State Bar President Bill Hebert said the bar believes the attorneys represented hundreds of...