Case Abstracts for matters heard in April of 2007
CSB-2006-066 Alan B. Mason, Princeton, MA (Disbarred)
Claimant, a homeowner, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in late January 2003, represented by counsel. When the mortgagee sought relief from the automatic stay, claimant converted to a Chapter 13 plan. In June 2003 claimant lost her job forcing her to switch back to a Chapter 7. Claimant's counsel wrote to Mr. Mason on July 1, 2003 confirming Mr. Mason's agreement to purchase claimant's home and setting up a time when claimant would go to Mr. Mason's office to sign the deed. Claimant went to Mr. Mason's office, signed the deed and received a $5,000 check payable to her counsel and a letter of instruction about the move-out date. Apparently, Mr. Mason was unable to keep up mortgage payments on the property because the mortgagee began foreclosure proceedings against Mr. Mason's realty trust (the new legal owner) in September 2003. In early 2004, the Chapter 7 trustee learned of the post-petition transfer of claimant's home (an asset of her bankrupt estate) and filed an adversary proceeding. After examining the details of the foreclosure following the transfer to Mr. Mason's realty trust, the trustee saw claimant's "minimal equity" in the property and dismissed the adversary proceeding. The court then issued an order nunc pro tunc permitting claimant's July 2003 transfer to Mr. Mason's realty trust. Mr. Mason never served as claimant's counsel and at no time did he stand in a fiduciary relationship to claimant. The Board found that no lawyer-client relationship existed between claimant and Mr. Mason and made no award.
CSB-2006-067 Alan B. Mason, Princeton, MA (Disbarred)
After claimant, a homeowner in financial distress, unsuccessfully tried several times to refinance her property, her brother referred her to Jamie Brown as someone who "could help me with my situation of losing my home and my credit standing." [The Petition for Discipline against Mr. Mason described Ms. Brown as "an employee and straw of the respondent's" and further alleged that Mr. Mason "controlled and directed all of Brown's activities. . ." By his resignation and consent to disbarment, Mr. Mason admitted that Bar Counsel could prove all of the allegations of the Petition.] Claimant engaged Ms. Brown and signed a quitclaim deed to her home that Ms. Brown notarized. A few weeks later a stranger knocked on claimant's door, explained that he was the new owner of the building and asked for $800.00 rent. The following day claimant visited City Hall and learned that her home really had been sold. She then contacted the district attorney's office. An investigator contacted Ms. Brown for an explanation. Ms. Brown explained that claimant had a net of $12,000 coming to her from the sale of her home of which $6,000 would be paid now and $6,000 when she had vacated the home. Claimant acknowledged that the $6,974.15 balance on her truck was paid off and that Ms. Brown paid two months rent for her ($1,600) and for her son ($1,600). Claimant also acknowledged that she never engaged Mr. Mason to serve as her lawyer, that she never met Mr. Mason, never spoke to him and never received any correspondence from him. The Board found that no lawyer-client relationship existed between claimant and Mr. Mason and made no award.
CSB-2007-026 Alan B. Mason, Princeton, MA (Disbarred)
While claimant was under indictment and in and out of pre-trial detention on four serious felony charges during 2003, Mr. Mason had claimant's estranged wife sign her own name and forge claimant's signature (all notarized by Mr. Mason) to a deed conveying their near-foreclosure house to a realty trust controlled by Mr. Mason. The trust then conveyed the house for value to a pre-arranged purchaser. In the re-sale transaction Mr. Mason stripped the equity from the home once owned by claimant and his wife. Claimant never engaged Mr. Mason as his counsel, never paid him a fee, and never alleged that a lawyer-client realtionship existed between them. In addition, Mr. Mason never stood in a fiduciary relationship toward claimant. The Board found that no lawyer-client relationship existed between claimant and Mr. Mason and made no award.
CSB -2001-081 Morris M. Goldings, Newton, MA (Disbarred)
In July 1992, following a jury trial during which he was represented by appointed counsel, claimant was found guilty of six felonies and received concurrent sentences of 25 to 40 years. Between August 1992 and May 2000, while represented once again by appointed counsel, claimant unsuccessfully pursued various appeals and post conviction remedies. In May 2000, a highly skilled lawyer acting pro bono, filed his appearance on behalf of claimant. In claimant's words, the lawyer "was going to help me with my DNA testing issue, use his connections to get my sentence lower, or a new trial due to ineffective assistance of my trial counsel." Six months later, in November 2000 while pro bono counsel was still active on his case, claimant stated: "I paid attorney Morris Goldings the money [$5,000] to represent me in my criminal matter." Four months later, in February 2001, claimant wrote the following to the law firm representing the professional liability carrier for Mr. Goldings' former firm: "The additional information I wanted to provide was that the $5,000 was paid by money order to Mr. Goldings, and I am in the process of retrieving the receipt." In an unsigned letter (of extremely questionable authenticity) to the Board dated August 13, 2003, claimant's sister wrote: "In regards to my brother [sic] claim, I paid attorney Morris M. Goldings $5,000 in cash that I was holding for my brother since his incarceration. Mr. Goldings gave me some form of receipt and told me that he would send me a fee agreement, but I never heard from him again. Due to your request for documentation I search [sic] my personal files and I'm unable to locate the receipt. It was probably lost or misplaced during my moving." On January 24, 2001 pro bono counsel withdrew his appearance as claimant's counsel and nothing happened in court for the next 19 months. Although claimant denied that he was switching from pro bono counsel to Mr. Goldings, he refused to permit Board's counsel to speak with pro bono counsel. Mr. Goldings responded to the claim with this paraphrase: "I never heard of [claimant] or his sister; I disagree with his claim; I never received any such fee." The Board found no independent documentary evidence of either an attorney-client relationship with Mr. Goldings or the payment of a $5,000 retainer to him and voted to make no award.
CSB 2006-077 Gerald Halfhide, II, Framingham, MA (Disbarred)
While driving a friend's car, claimant, a college student, was involved in an accident on July 4, 2001. He was treated at a hospital emergency room and released the very same day. On July 11, 2001 he consulted Mr. Halfhide and both signed a contingency fee agreement. Mr. Halfhide also referred claimant to a nearby physical therapy clinic where he was given a course of treatment for which he was never told the cost and never given a bill. When completing an insurer's claim form in July 2002, claimant described his injuries as "sharp back pain, severe hip injury/pain," but checked boxes indicated that he had no lost wages and that he would have no additional medical expenses. The insurer processed the application and sent Mr. Halfhide a $2,000 check dated August 14, 2002. Mr. Halfhide then either: a) delivered the check to the physical therapy clinic that deposited the check to its account; or b) deposited the check to an account other than his IOLTA account. Mr. Halfhide never notified claimant that he had the funds and never paid two of claimant's medical bills totaling $492.27 for services provided at the emergency room on the date of the accident. Claimant reported that the unpaid medical bills could adversely impact his efforts to be hired by the FBI. The Bureau's website confirmed that "credit checks" are a part of the background investigation conducted on job applicants. Even if the medical providers had written off the bills as uncollectible, the failure to pay would continue to appear on claimant's credit history and would likely be interpreted as a negative by the FBI. The Board found a defalcation of $492.27 and made an award to claimant in that amount.
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