The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has disbarred a lawyer who fraudulently represented uninjured people in personal injury cases. Representation of Uninjured Clients Brings Disbarment for Pa. Lawyer, Legal Intelligencer, June 23, 2006.
After a federal investigation revealing that the lawyer hired people to recruit clients and helped stage slip-and-falls, among other things, he pleaded guilty in 2003 to one count of health care fraud and one count of filing a false tax return statement. He was sentenced to one year in prison and nearly $261,500 in restitution. At a disciplinary hearing the lawyer said:
I got into personal injury cases and ... when I was a young lawyer, [people told me], "You're going to get accident cases of people that aren't really hurt, you say they're hurt and you send them to the doctor."Id.
That's not right, OK? And I did it for 30 years and there's a thousand more here in this state that do it, and I told [the investigators] that, and they said, "Yeah, but you got caught," [for] which I served my time, I didn't make excuses, so that's true.
The court's order contains no discussion, adopting by reference the report and recommendations of the disciplinary board. But if you're curious, it's here: Office of Disciplinary Counsel v. Radbill, No. 932 Disciplinary Docket No. 3 (Pa. June 19, 2006).
Filed in: cases, ethics, practice-of-law, personal-injury, fraud
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