Careers
Lawyers Scammed by Fake Job Ad
Posted Sep 14, 2007, 11:40 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Updated: Some lawyers are falling prey to scam job ads.
Just ask ABA Journal freelancer Arin Greenwood. “This is the story in which you learn how a graduate of Columbia Law School—that’s me—and almost 80 other people, who really should have known better, got suckered into giving away all our personal details as well as up to two months of our lives for ‘jobs’ that never actually existed,” she writes in the Washington City Paper.
The group had responded to an ad on Craigslist that read in part: “Our financial information research company is going to be temporarily adding 15 top tier legal minds to our staff in order to conduct an intensive due diligence and legal research project in Washington, D.C. We are hiring individuals who are independent and can work from their home office and local law libraries yet can still be accountable to a team and are available to begin immediately.”
Later, Greenwood got an employment contract promising to pay her $14,000 a month for temporary, intensive work. She signed it, giving her Social Security number and her bank number so her check could be directly deposited.
Then she participated in telephone meetings and spent her days researching investment opportunities in European countries. The thought that someone could be stealing her identity had crossed Greenwood’s mind, but she was so penniless she figured it wouldn't be worth the trouble to the scammer.
Greenwood was never paid. After investigating, she learned that the man leading the scam, Gerald Edward, was using an alias and may have been arrested in Boston a few years ago for securities fraud. Prosecutors were checking it out.
Greenwood and others filed a lawsuit on Aug. 27 in federal court in Maryland that claims breach of contract, fraud, unjust enrichment and violation of consumer protection and racketeering laws.
Originally published 09-14-2007 at 8:59 AM.
Related Stories
- U.S. Considers Using Drug Law to Prosecute Blackwater Guards
Dec 4, 2008, 05:34 pm CST - Ky. Prosecutors Warn of Layoffs, Cases Being Dropped
Dec 4, 2008, 04:59 pm CST - Police Chief, Gun Club Indicted After Boy’s Death From Uzi
Dec 4, 2008, 03:28 pm CST - Reports: Murdered NYC Lawyer Victim of Jealous Stalker
Dec 4, 2008, 10:34 am CST
Related Topics
Commenting has expired on this post.
Comments
Posted by BrightMind - 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks, 1 day, 2 hours, 48 minutes ago
Um….who the heck applies for legal jobs on Craigslist?!?
Posted by Tracy - 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks, 1 day, 55 minutes ago
Craigslist is the number one source of job ads in some markets, noteably San Francisco.
Posted by Anonymous - 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks, 1 day, 12 minutes ago
Impressive. This says a lot about deperation in the law graduate job market, who is truly cut out to make it as a lawyer (and who is not), and about how little it truly seems to matter if you went to a prestigious law school.
Posted by Anonymous - 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks, 19 hours, 4 minutes ago
This isn’t about who can make it as a lawyer. Most medium to large firms only hire the top grads. Obviously, everyone can’t be in the top tier. To those who aren’t ready to hang their shingle, and to those who don’t wish to use their degree to practice law, this probably sounded good. I hope the victims receive some compensation.
Posted by Danielle - 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks, 13 hours, 43 minutes ago
It’s amazing the lengths people will go to scam others. It’s just a sad story. Seriously though, did the frauds think desparate lawyers looking for work actually had a lot of money to steal . . . I mean with all that student loan debt??
Posted by Darren - 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks, 13 hours, 26 minutes ago
This scam was more thought out then what occurred to me, and that I am still having to deal with. Yes, being an older graduate of law school, I found that despite my higher ranking, law firms did not wish to hire me - maybe due to age, maybe my looks, who knows. I responded to a Chicago Craigslist ad (as did others). I interviewed, met the attorney who had been practicing for 54 years and damn if I didnt like the guy. Office was furnished, heavy caseload of personal injury and wc cases and three translator secretaries, and I needed a job. I took it - only to later find out the attorney was an attorney, but not licensed in Illinois, the office was not a registered law firm, but instead an out of state corporation made up of non-attorneys, and that prior to me at least 6 attorneys had been duped as well. End result - THEY file an ARDC complaint against me when I inform them I will not abide by a fee sharing agreement that I had previously agreed to - which I won, but had to spend the money defending against - they have not been disciplined by Illinois ARDC as they are not licensed here. California says they will eventually get them, and when I filed suit against them for my money the court suggested I settle as the Judge did not wish to get into an argument about ethics. End result - I spent $25,000 in court costs - the judge, court, ARDC and laws allow them to continue to practice without a license. And people wonder why no one believes in the law anymore.