‘Crockefeller’ Lawyer Says He Was ‘Done In’ by Paralegal
A lawyer in the limelight for his defense of the accused kidnapper who called himself Clark Rockefeller is defending his law license before Massachusetts’ highest court.
Boston criminal defense lawyer Stephen Hrones says he was unaware that his former paralegal was practicing law, the Boston Globe reports. He is appealing a recommendation that his license be suspended for a year and a day.
The story describes Hrones as “a bearded, Harvard-educated former Fulbright scholar.”
“I was too trusting of this individual, and now I’m paying the price,’’ Hrones told the newspaper. “I was done in by this guy, and I should have supervised him better. … But I didn’t hold him out as a lawyer.’’
The paralegal was a law graduate who drafted and filed complaints in employment discrimination cases, making mistakes along the way, according to the state Board of Bar Overseers. He also kept clients’ fees for himself, the board says.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear Hrones’ appeal in May.
