Law Office Shut Down After Alleged Illegal Practicing Of Law
The State Bar of California has recently shut down the satellite law office of L & M Legal Services, in rural Upland, California, after two of their employed practitioners were found to be illegally operating and practicing law without a state license. State prosecutors have charged private practicing attorney William Martinez of knowing that his law office was neither accredited nor licensed by the State Bar, and that his employees were not licensed either. Despite the lack of accreditation, Martinez still ran the law office.
The illegal enterprise was uncovered as the result of an earlier investigation this week by the government called Operation K-Fraud, or better known in its pleonastic phrase as ''Knockout Fraudulent Attorneys and Unscrupulous Doctors.'' The investigation targeted law offices representing personal injury cases that were suspected of laundering money from their clients. They have accused the Law Office of David Gonzalez, whose firm largely handled personal injury suits resulting from car accidents, along with three of his administrative staff members, in connection to a scheme where the attorneys were illegally passing on their accident clients as patient referrals to doctors in exchange for a cut of 30 percent charged on their patient billings. Additionally, eight chiropractors allegedly involved in the conspiracy were charged. However, Brooke Shafer, a deputy trial counsel of the State Bar, acknowledged these are not criminal cases at the moment.
Many of their law client’s stated that their attorneys would keep little or no contact with them, and were often difficult to reach, almost never answering the phone when they called, and never returning any of their messages.
The DA’s Office has not planned to file any criminal charges against Martinez or Gonzalez, or any of the defendants, as of yet. Yet they were ordered to cease practicing law and were barred from practicing law in the state of California ever again.
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