TALLAHASSEE, FLA---Attorney General Charlie Crist announced Dec. 6, 2005
that his office sued two Palm Beach County men for unfair and deceptive
trade practices stemming from allegations that their cabinet and
countertop
business took customers' deposits but failed to provide the requested
items.
Crist's complaint alleges the two men never delivered promised services.
Affidavits from consumers re****tedly reflect that victims were cheated out
of more than $175,000 in deposits. Crist's office maintains the two Palm
Beach County men are being sued under Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade
Practices Act, which allows a penalty of $10,000 per violation, or
$15,000
if the victim is a senior citizen or disabled adult.
In sharp contrast, Crist's office failed to even investigate re****ts of a
well-connected law firm's widescale misappropriation of its clients'
funds.
When I was employed as an attorney by the Jacksonville law firm FARAH,
FARAH
& ABBOTT, P.A. (a/k/a The Law Offices of Eddie Farah) in 2004 I discovered
it was frequently 'padding' costs charged to personal injury clients by
$300
or more per case and had been doing so for several years. It overcharged
hundreds of unsuspecting clients and the combined misappropriated funds
are
estimated at several hundred thousand dollars.
According to the firm's web site, it is now known as the Law Offices of
Farah & Farah, P.A. The principals in the firm are Eddie Farah and his
brother, Charlie E. Farah.
The law firm practiced as a professional association ("P.A."), an
authorized
business entity under The Rules Regulating The Florida Bar. Florida Bar
Rule
4-8.6(a) specifically provides, "Authorized Business Entities. Lawyers may
practice law in the form of professional service cor****ations,
professional
limited liability companies, sole
proprietor****ps, general partner****ps, or limited liability partner****ps
organized or qualified under applicable law. Such forms of practice are
authorized business entities under these rules."
There are many reasons attorneys choose to form professional associations
for their legal practices. The owners of a professional association are
called shareholders and ordinarily do not have personal liability for
liabilities that arise in the ordinary course of business or from the
malpractice of other attorneys at the law firm. This is one of the major
benefits of operating a law practice as a professional association.
A Jan. 10, 2005 letter I sent to Crist's office</a> re****ted the law
firm's
repeated acts of consumer theft/fraud in the years 2002 through 2004. The
letter emphasized, "Given the frequency and duration of [the firm's]
overcharging practice, many clients and considerable sums of money are
involved in these matters."
Crist's office responded by letter dated Jan. 24, 2005, simply identifying
The Florida Bar as the agency responsible for reviewing grievances against
Florida lawyers.
I'm aware of no legal authority exempting law firms operating as
professional associations from being prosecuted under Florida's Deceptive
and Unfair Trade Practices Act. My concerns over the firm's overcharging
practices had already been re****ted to The Florida Bar by letter dated
Sept.
28, 2004 to Donald M. Spangler, Esq., Chief Branch
Discipline Counsel.
Surprisingly, a full year went by with no contact from any representatives
of The Florida Bar to investigate my re****t of widescale fraud and
misappropriation of clients' funds by The Law Offices of Eddie Farah. Not
a
single inquiry from The Florida Bar by letter, email or telephone.
My follow ups with The Florida Bar in late 2005 drew a rather succinct
Oct.
27, 2005 email from Spangler stating, "The file to which you refer was
closed. The grievance committee considered the matter after investigation
and an audit by the Bar Staff Auditor, and found there was no probable
cause
to pursue disciplinary proceedings. They did elect to send a letter of
advice to the firm."
The fact The Law Offices of Eddie Farah overcharged clients by substantial
sums is not in dispute. Attorney John A. Weiss, Esq. of Tallahassee
represented the firm's principals, attorneys and brothers Eddie and Chuck
Farah, before the Bar. Weiss admitted in a Sept. 22, 2005 letter to The
Bar
that the firm overcharged clients stating,
"As an aside, I would advise you that the firm has refunded in excess of
$120,000.00 ... to those clients who were inadvertently overcharged for
costs. Approximately $10,000.00 remains undisbursed because the firm, and
the private investigator it subsequently hired, could not find the
individuals."
Even The Florida Bar's own audit of the firm's trust account confirmed
$130,000 in overcharges and a lack of substantial compliance with Bar
rules
governing trust accounts in the years 2002 through 2004.
According to a Jan. 6, 2006 letter from Spangler, "The Florida Bar cannot
impose disciplinary action against a law firm, only against individual
lawyers."
This creates a dangerous loophole unscrupulous practitioners can exploit
to
the public's detriment. If law firms aren't subject to disciplinary
action
by The Florida Bar, why won't Attorney General Crist investigate the
professional assocation's admitted overcharging practices under Florida's
Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act? Someone must take
responsibility
for protecting clients defrauded by law firms and the public needs to know
who that is. If it's not The Florida Bar or Attorney General Crist, who
is
it?
Sup****ting do***entation for the above is available at the following web
pages:
"Palm Beach Times Action Line Complaint #109":
http://www.thepalmbeachtimes.com/action-re****ts/109.html
"Regulating Lawyer Misconduct in Florida: Who's Responsible?":
http://lawyermisconduct.blogspot.com/
"Hill's Peek at Regulating Lawyer Misconduct":
"http://home.comcast.net/~email4hill/wsb/index.html
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