Plus! Isn’t his name on the company? I know from family businesses it is awfully easy to mingle your funds, personal and business sometimes overlapping if you own the company.
Really? I seem to remember Paul being charged with boating under the influence, not homicide. You're probably thinking of one of those pesky rumors that we all know never turn out to be true.
Maybe it was this type of thing? I didn't know what that meant either.
Diverting fees? Whatever is paid is not claimed and no record of it?
There are bookies everywhere, no casinos needed, just a phone call.
Indeed, I suspect this is very true.
In my state - only our title company audits our escrow /trust account- but it’s because we write title. If we did not - no audits.
IMO yes they have a fiduciary responsibility to their clients who they hold monies for in their trust account. We have to have an operating manual for our trust and each lawyer has to sign for their acknowledgment of how these funds are to be used and only one lawyer may sign checks. Each year they must attest to this process when renewing their bar membership.
Apparently not - it would indicate to me the same person reconciled their trust account else how could this go unnoticed? I put a process in place where no check may be signed without the source document present - it took years of training to do this when we had more family members involved in the firm and coincidentally happened when they asked me to be a signer so even though I’m not an attorney I had to be responsible so I became somewhat paranoid to make sure everything was done to the letter by everyone - needless to say it was not met well initially. I didn’t care about any ones “feelings”.
My guess is the trust account - very few non lawyers have access to those “books” in my experience but like you I want to see the “how” - JMO
That’s a big no no but I can see this happening in a family type firm
Yep- usually cash retainers or legal bills paid in cash- also some clients still write their checks to the individual lawyer and not the firm! The minute I see one of those out comes my “for deposit only”stamp (I open all the mail)
A divorce I'm following has discovery requests for the family business because the STBX is understating income. So far the family business has provided the minimum - I don’t know if they will be in a position to require an audit but I can see making a motion for that and a judge granting it if the discovery continues to be stonewalled.
Those fees must have been hefty. How ironic would that be, the lawyer going broke from lawyer's fees.
This is SLED all the way. They’re the ones investigating the double murders, and an investigation of this scope is going to be well beyond the capabilities of the sheriff’s department.
