>OH: Lawyer Suspended for Cheating Elderly Ward

>A probate lawyer who admitted to scamming an elderly ward out of more than $20,000 was suspended from practicing law indefinitely [12/2/2010].

The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously imposed the penalty against Jeffrey A. Zapor, who had been appointed by the Franklin County Probate Court as the guardian of an 86-year-old Columbus woman.

Zapor, 33, admitted to making $20,876 in unauthorized withdrawals from the woman’s bank account in 2007 and 2008. He was convicted of fifth-degree felony theft in December 2009.

Zapor, who moved to Sylvania near Toledo, attributed his behavior to problems with alcohol and gambling, court records show.

In its decision today, the Supreme Court said Zapor would need to demonstrate that he has sought treatment before he may petition to be reinstated as a lawyer.

“(Zapor’s) testimony also suggested that he has taken steps to resolve his substance-abuse and gambling problems, which he claims played at least some role in his poor choices,” the court noted.

Full Article and Source:
Lawyer Suspended For Cheating Elderly Ward

>Ohio: Evelyn Schwartz Belongings ‘Dumped’

>The guardian put in a dumpster and threw away bags and bags of things of Dean’s (who was not evcited) and Evelyn’s, prior to even the ‘case’ being settled.

After he removed the first dumpster because he got caught – yet with loads of ‘stolen’ things in it, he then placed another dumpster there a month later, to finish the job, after getting the notice from our atty of need to lawfully evict Dean, and give us a chance to remove his things.

Source:
Guardian Says, “Who Will Make Me, How About it County Grand Jury, is He Right or Wrong?

See Also:
Evelyn Pleads for Help

CountyGrandJury.org

>Lawyer/Guardian Cleared in Negligence Case

>An attorney who was accused of negligence in the guardianship of an 83-year-old woman by the woman’s family has been cleared of all allegations by a jury.

A daughter of Nannie McIntosh, Isabella Bennington had filed the civil suit against Tresa Gossett, a Bethel, Ohio attorney who serves as solicitor for the village of Aberdeen, Ohio. The civil case was unrelated to any duties Gossett has with the village.

Bennington alleged in her civil case that Gossett was not only negligent, but had converted some of her mother’s property. She filed the suit in August, 2009.

Gossett filed a counter-complaint that the family was abusing a judicial process.

The case went to trial Monday, with Bennington’s attorney, James Banks, outlining several specific accusations in his opening statement. Among those accusations, that Gossett did not permit McIntosh’s daughters to visit her in the nursing homes where she spent the last several months of her life, that she failed to set up a payment arrangement for McIntosh’s supplemental insurance, resulting in its cancellation and that items went missing from the home for which Gossett, as guardian, would have been responsible.

Gossett’s attorney, Rick Weil, countered those claims in his opening statements mostly through the use of a time line beginning with a police report of a theft of $36,000 in January, 2007, long before Gossett knew the family. He also played a 911 recording in which one sister accused another of abusing their mother and described other calls placed by McIntosh in which she said she needed assistance with her medication and asked the dispatchers if they would like to buy a quilt.

Those 911 calls prompted protective services to become involved. Weil said probate court recommended an attorney as guardian because the family couldn’t agree on a guardian.

Weil said Gossett had more than two decades experience as an attorney and no prior complaints of anything unethical. He described her as the “go-to” person for the court when there is need of a guardian.

Full Article and Source:
Lawyer Cleared in Negligence Case

See Also:
OH: Family Files Suit Against Guardian

>OH: Family Files Suit Against Guardian

>A question of negligence is at the center of a civil suit filed against Attorney Tresa Gossett in the Brown County Court of Common Pleas.

Gossett was appointed guardianship of an 83-year-old woman, Nannie McIntosh, in the fall of 2006, despite family resistance. Months after McIntosh’s death, the family filed a lawsuit against Gossett claiming a “lack of ordinary care.”

The claim was filed with a jury demand. Gossett responded with a counterclaim that the family was abusing a judicial process.

Monday [11/8], a jury of four women and four men were selected for a three-day trial, at the end of which they will be asked to decide if either the claim or counterclaim have merit. A fifth woman was also selected as an alternate juror.

The civil suit was filed by Isabella Bennington, one of three daughters of McIntosh. Bennington is administrator of McIntosh’s estate.

Full Article and Source:
Family Files Suit Against Guardian

NASGA Advocate Tom Fields Comments on Ohio Aging Summit

The goal of the Aging Summit held last week in Columbus was to foster more interagency collaboration to enhance the safety and well-being of older Ohioans.

The topic of elder abuse, growing across the nation, is close to the heart of one Ohio advocate from Mentor who spoke to CGE on it.

Tom Fields has become an outspoken advocate for a protocol he says would do much to stop the growing scourge of abusing the elder when they are at their weakest. Fields’ interest in helping the elder fend away lawyers and others who are more like vultures than angels came about through a sequence of events related to his father. Fueled by his experience with his father, Fields offered an ABC News 20/20 video that shows what can happen when a lawyer and beneficiaries present a new will to a sick, elderly women in her hospital bed and ask her to “make her mark.”

The short video shows Mary Ellen Bendtsen, 88, a wealthy elderly woman in Dallas who was not mentally competent to sign a new will presented to her, sign it anyway.

Fields argues that the video demonstrates a need for a good protocol that not only makes clear what questions need to be asked but who should ask these questions, how and when an interview should be conducted and how the answers to these questions should decide the validity of the document in question.

If a protocol he has asked the Ohio Elder Abuse Commission (OEC) to consider with regard to wills, deeds, trusts, power of attorney and other financial and legal documents existed, Fields says the attorney in the ABC video could have used it as an argument for why he shouldn’t have been disbarred and indicted on criminal charges, as happened.

“It is in the interest of all legitimate parties that such a protocol be required under circumstances like that captured in this video report,” Fields wrote in an email to CGE about a public comment he made to OEC a year ago September that asked the OEC and others “to develop and require a reliable protocol for use in circumstances like that confronted by the 20/20 report.”

Fields told CGE that such a protocol would provide safeguards against attempts by person who exert undue influence over a testator to incorporate professionals such as doctors, lawyers, or accountants into their efforts to control the individual.

Fields points to reports by the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse as proof of the growing scope of the problem. He report that he has received “promising initial responses from some lawmakers to my phone calls and e-mails,” but cautions that “I understand that these responses are only preliminary and at this point do little more than demonstrate good intentions.”

Full Article and Source:
Ohio Aging Summit Speaks to Elder Abuse, Advocates Call for New Protocol

See Also:
NASGA Affiliate Tom Fields Addresses Ohio Elder Abuse Commission

OH: Screening for Judicial Posts Under Fire

One of the judges Gov. Ted Strickland appointed to the Cuyahoga County bench was arrested in September as part of a federal probe into wide-ranging political corruption among Cleveland-area officials.

Another Strickland-appointed judge, in Franklin County, is confronting tough ethics questions about appointing family members to jobs despite rules against nepotism.

Both Judge Steven J. Terry of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court and Judge Alan S. Acker of Franklin County Probate Court were vetted by a panel that Strickland established shortly after taking office in January 2007. The Ohio Judicial Appointments Recommendation Panel was one of Strickland’s signature initiatives “to restore trust and integrity in Ohio’s government” when the Democratic governor took office after Republican scandals.

Strickland’s aides say Terry and Acker are isolated cases among the dozens of judges the governor has appointed to vacancies since 2007. The vetting panel is doing its job, Strickland’s office insists.

“With only two of the nearly 50 appointments generating headlines beyond their cases, it seems unwarranted to blame a system that has worked well and is far better than the Republican patronage selection process,” Strickland spokeswoman Amanda Wurst said in a statement.

Full Article and Source:
Screening for Judicial Posts Under Fire

Ohio: Two Corruption Defendents Ask for New Lawyers

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Bridget McCafferty, who was indicted last month for lying to the FBI, has requested a new attorney.

Attorney Henry Hilow represented McCafferty during her arraignment last month, at which time she pleaded not guilty, and at a subsequent pre-trial hearing. Now she and Hilow have asked that he be replaced by J. Michael Murray.

U.S. District Judge Kate O’Malley has yet to rule on the motion, which does not explain why the switch is being sought. Murray did not return messages left at his office.

Hilow said during the pre-trial conference in front of O’Malley that McCafferty may ask that her case be severed from her five co-defendants, which include County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora. All six are scheduled for trial on Sept. 12, 2011.

Also seeking a new lawyer is Michael Gabor, another of the people scheduled for trial in September.

Full Article and Source:
Two Defendents in Cuyahoga County Corruption Probe Seek New Lawyers

OH: Judge Raises Ethics Questions

New Probate Judge Alan S. Acker appointed his sons to a $20-an-hour job looking for valuables despite ethics rules against nepotism.

And during his four months on the Franklin County bench, Acker also has continued to run a family business that collects fees from probate lawyers. The Ohio Supreme Court’s rules tell judges to avoid any situation that “involves the judge in frequent transactions or continuing business relationships” with lawyers who come before the judge’s court.

Acker, a lawyer for 33 years, said he’s done nothing improper since Gov. Ted Strickland appointed him to a vacancy in the spring.

“I believe the bar knows my integrity,” he said. “I’ll rule honestly and impartially based on what the law is without concern of who is standing before me.”

Others say he might have breached the judicial canons, or even state law.

Full Article and Source:
New Judge’s Acts Raise Ethics Questions

Ohio Lawyer Kenneth N. Shaw Suspended

A Warren attorney has been suspended for up to two years for professional misconduct.

According to a statement issued Thursday, the Supreme Court of Ohio suspended Kenneth N. Shaw’s law license for two years, with the second year of that term stayed on conditions. The Court said Shaw displayed professional misconduct in his handling of legal matters for two sets of clients. He also failed to cooperate with authorities investigating the complaints against him, the Court said.

In a 6-1 per curium opinion announced Thursday, the Court adopted findings by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances & Discipline that Shaw obtained and then defaulted on a $13,000 personal loan from an elderly client of his law practice, then drew up a trust agreement for the same client that named Shaw’s five children as beneficiaries. This action violated the conflict of interest rules.

The Court also found that in a separate case, Shaw collected legal fees from two clients for whom he had prepared a guardianship application without first obtaining the approval of the local probate court. Shaw was found by the probate court to have engaged in concealment of assets in the case, and ordered to refund $1,200 of the legal fees he had improperly collected from those clients.

Full Article and Source:
Warren Attorney Suspended by State Supreme Court

Nurse & Teacher Sentenced to 5 Years Plus Restitution

A nurse and a part-time kindergarten teacher were sentenced to nearly five years in prison and ordered to repay $839,252 they stole from a 94-year-old man in their care.

Deborah G. Johnson, 53, and Anita Esquibel, 69, each pleaded guilty to one count of theft and one count of money laundering in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Johnson, the nurse, and Esquibel, the teacher, gained the trust of Peter Svaldi after meeting him in the apartment building they managed near Graceland Shopping Center. After gaining power-of-attorney for Svaldi, they used his accounts to buy real estate, a car, jewelry and dental work.

A bank officer alerted police after discovering large transactions being made from the accounts of the elderly man, who was known for his frugality.

Full article and Source:
Nurse, Teacher Sentenced for Bilking Elderly Man

See Also:
Nurse and PT Teacher Charged With Theft