Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

The Massachusetts Clients' Security Board announced that it had awarded over $2,000,000 to clients that had been defrauded out of their money by 33 lawyers committing legal malpractice in Massachusetts. A program run under the Massachusetts Bar Counsel since 1975, the CSB receives 12.49% of attorneys' annual registration fees to fund reimbursements. The Board is made up of seven lawyers appointed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court; they receive no compensation for their work, however, there are investigators and staff who work full time for the Board.

Three lawyers accounted for payments of $1.07 million, or over 50% of the total payout. Those lawyers are: Raymond J. Paczkowski, a real estate attorney responsible for $509,392 in reimbursed claims; Harley H. Anderson, a trust and estates attorney whose one client was reimbursed in the amount of $253,279.64, the largest award if the fiscal year; and Harold Meizler, another trust and estates attorney with one client being reimbursed for $250,000.

Mr. Paczkowski was disbarred on November 24, 2010 after he converted a $109,953 real estate transaction for his own use. The Board of Bar Overseers found numerous irregularities in his accounting, however, it seems that it was the theft that sparked the investigation and necessitated the sanction.

Mr. Anderson was indicted and subsequently plead guilty for embezzlement by a fiduciary and larceny. He received a two-year jail sentence for his crimes.

Trusts and estate lawyers accounted for 43% with a payout of $891,000. Real estate lawyers accounted for 30.5% or $629,000. Massachusetts's personal injury lawyers accounted for 12.10% of defalcation. In upcoming payouts, according to the CSB Assistant General Counsel Karen O'Toole, is with a Massachusetts bankruptcy lawyer www.neilburnslaw.com , Robert Mangano, who took monies from clients in the Lawrence and Lowell area and failed to file for Massachusetts bankruptcy relief. The victims here are often unable to retain new counsel and may loose their homes as a result of the Massachusetts legal malpractice.

The largest category of claims was "unearned retainer" claims, which accounted for 36 of the 63 awards by the Massachusetts Clients' Security Board, with a value of $125,685. At the end of the year there remained $14,073, 090 in outstanding claims.

The law does not have any statute of limitations, like Massachusetts personal injury law, and Massachusetts negligence law, victims are encouraged to report any suspicious activity to the Massachusetts CSB. Victims need not retain counsel for processing a claim, as the CSB will do all of the work for victims when clients' money is stolen. To get to their website, click on Massachusetts Clients Security Board to go right to the form. Victims should be pleased to note that the CSB has over $5 million in reserves to make up for potential large hits.

We urge the pessimists among our readers to acknowledge that notwithstanding all of the above, the 33 lawyers responsible were out of 55,269 practicing lawyers in Massachusetts.

We also want to distinguish legal malpractice from theft. In Massachusetts legal malpractice there is a statute of limitations, and is not usually theft. Further, there is no CSB to investigate and return moneys.

In our detailed study, Getting In Trouble: The Severe Sanctions; 2008-2010, we review all of the sanctions received by lawyers in those years. That study, published on our website, was geared towards lawyers, to give an in depth view of the types of cases resulting in attorney discipline. We reviewed all 116 such cases.

We also published a study entitled Massachusetts BBO Admonitions Study 2008-2010, which reviewed all of the admonitions, or lessor penalties given out by the Board of Bar Examiners. Both studies are worthy reading for Massachusetts lawyers and Massachusetts clients.

As a Massachusetts consumer attorney, I try to keep clients informed of how to keep safe this holiday season. With rainy weather, and a huge travel day today, we offer the following to avoid Massachusetts motor vehicle accidents: 1. Don't drive in holiday traffic if you don't have to. 2. Texting while driving is illegal. 3. Wear your seat belt - it's the law and the easiest way to stay safe when involved in a motor vehicle accident in Massachsuetts 4. Children must be in child safety seats in Massachusetts 5. The most obvious should be do not drink and drive, but, we should all be aware to assist others who may not know they should not drive. 6. While it may be too late for today, put on your shopping list to check your underinsurance coverage in Massachusetts, which is often too low. We recommend that our clients purchase significantly more than the minimum of $20,000.00 underinsurance to protect them from underinsured vehicles and uninsured Massachusetts vehicles.

For our clients who are shopping for more fun items than insurance, we relate some of the tips offered by the Massachusetts Attorney General's office which include: 1. Know your rights when buying gift certificates. The law says they are good for seven years. However, remember that you don't want to be a creditor if the business files for bankruptcy in Massachusetts, so if you receive a gift certificate, use it promptly. 2. Stores must disclose their return policies, but often have different ones and strict rules. It makes sense to review a return policy if you are likely to return any item. 3. Layaway policies can be helpful for budgeting, but be careful of the policy before you turn over your hard earned money. 4. If you see a print advertisement, bring it with you as model numbers and sizes can be switched without your knowing. 5. Following all purchases with a debit or credit card, check your bank or credit card statement for any suspicious charges.

If you shop online: 1. Use a credit card for on line purchases because this gives you a layer of security. 2. Only use websites you know are legitimate. 3. Be sure to confirm the website's authenticity before giving y our credit card information. You can look for the "s" in the "https://" for security. Also, in the lower right corner on a check out page, look for the "lock" symbol. 4. Beware of emails asking for information about your order. Do not give out information in response to those emails. The Retailers Association of Massachusetts has a website that offers additional information.

Finally as a Massachusetts burn injury lawyer, I remind folks to be safe when using ovens to cook for a holiday meal: Stay in the kitchen when you are cooking, especially if you have food heating on the stovetop. Turkeys should be checked frequently. Keep children away from stovetops and, before opening the oven to check or baste the bird, have all children away from the vicinity and protected from entering the area. Keeping the kitchen floor clean and free of debris helps prevent falls near hot items. Spending the day near the kitchen is a good time to check general safety, including the storage of knives, the security of poisonous cleaning fluids, and smoke alarms.

Have a safe and happy holiday.

This time of year we like to remind our clients to keep Massachusetts children safe, especially when buying holiday gifts. Last year our Boston injury blog posted a story about injuries to Massachusetts children noting unsafe toys on the Massachusetts Public Interest Group products list. It includes good instructions regarding plastic toys, plastic baby bottles and foods wrapped plastic.

Winter is the season when children suffer the most burn injuries. We have had many clients, to many unfortunately, where young children are burned in Massachusetts. Children 2 and under tend to suffer burns to their hands and wrists. Older children suffer from fire injuries. We should remember that 75% of burn injury fatalities in children are from smoke inhalation; only 25% are from actual burns. Of the children that are under 5 who die in home fires, 50% were sleeping at the time. A Children's Hospital of Boston study claims that we could reduce child fatalities by 86% from home fires if we had smoke detectors and sprinkler systems.

Most importantly, however, we need to review motor vehicle accidents. They are the number one cause of fatalities for children. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration differentiates traffic accidents from non traffic accidents. In 2010 these include accidents off the road, in driveways and parking lots - 262 fatalities and 115,000 injuries. The three most common causes for non traffic accidents are backovers (34%), then frontovers (30%) and heatstroke (16%). In 2010, for example, there were 70 frontover fatalities and 66 backover fatalities. These accidents often occur to the youngest children - 70% of the victims were between one and two years old. Those children are the smallest and hardest to see for the driver. Heatstroke caused 49 deaths for children in 2010; education is needed to prevent heatstroke because it disproportionally effects the smallest children, whose body temperature raises faster than bigger kids.

The other causes of fatalities for children include 7% caused by underage drivers. This includes drivers under the age of 15, often kids who believe that their skills have honed playing video games. 5% of the fatalities were from vehicles in motion, 2% vehicle falls, and 2% from drowning.

Massachusetts drivers can follow the following tips to keep children safe: use child safety seats for small children; use seat belts for bigger children; use booster seats for kids in the middle; check around any vehicle before you get in to drive; keep children under 13 in the back seat, away from air bags; keep if there are children around, check that they are all away from the vehicle before proceeding in the vehicle; teach children that stopped cars be dangerous and that they can start at any time; keep toys, bikes, etc. away from cars and driveways; keep vehicle keys away from any child access; never, ever, leave children alone in a motor vehicle.

Please review our various blog articles and website postings about child injuries. Many, if not most, are preventable. We have represented many many families following injuries to children. If you have questions about how to respond, legally, when children are injured, please call our office as soon as possible - evidence can be lost, and children forget.