Article
LA Law Office Ran Amok in Attorney’s Absence
Posted May 14, 2007, 05:02 am CST
By Martha Neil
While a lawyer's away ... unsupervised employees may play havoc with professional standards. And that's exactly what happened in the Los Angeles office of a San Luis Obispo County lawyer who allowed employees to practice law in his absence, according to the California state bar.
It suspended Robert Howard Sack for two years and ordered him to pay $50,000 in restitution to clients, after finding that the non-attorneys effectively running his L.A. personal injury practice took client money for personal use, lied to clients and forged signatures on settlement checks, while also evaluating and settling cases on their own, reports the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
Sack is pursuing civil litigation against his accountant, who he is suing for malpractice, among other defendants.