Lawyer is reprimanded for lying about appeal; client repeated assertion in TV interview
A New Jersey lawyer has been reprimanded for promising to file an appeal without following through, causing his client to make a false assertion in a TV interview.
The lawyer, Francis Falkenstein, was reprimanded in a decision made public on Dec. 16, the New Jersey Law Journal (sub. req.) reports. The decision and opinion by the Disciplinary Review Board are here (PDF).
Falkenstein had represented a company called Halo America that was owned by two former players in the National Football League. The company rented rehabbed homes to people with bad credit with the aim of helping them eventually buy the property.
A judge had awarded $15,000 to an unhappy customer who sued the company in October 2011. A reporter for Fox 29 in Philadelphia asked co-owner Mario Henry why the judgment had not been paid in a TV interview, and Henry said the case was on appeal.
The investigative reporter said that wasn’t true, causing Henry to appear to be a liar, Henry later asserted. He alleges the TV report caused Halo America to lose investors, a factor in the company’s collapse.
Falkenstein was also ineligible to practice law for failing to pay annual fees during the period in question, though he was not aware of it, according to the disciplinary review board. Falkenstein said the notice of assessment was sent to Haddon Heights, New Jersey, rather than Haddon Township, New Jersey, and he paid when he became aware of the problem.
Falkenstein stipulated to violations of ethics rules regarding gross neglect; failure to communicate with a client; failure to terminate representation when disagreeing with a client’s direction; and conduct involving dishonesty.
The disciplinary review board noted that Falkenstein entered a drug and alcohol treatment program in 2012 and has remained clean and sober. He has also provided pro bono help to others with addiction issues.
