A felony conviction drew automatic disbarment from the New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department

The respondent was found guilty of carrying out an extensive mail and wire fraud scheme with other co-conspirators by staging trip-and-fall accidents and filing fraudulent lawsuits arising from the staged accidents between on or about January 2013 and April 2018. The respondent represented hundreds of clients and filed fraudulent lawsuits against the property owners and/or their insurers, claiming that the injuries were solely caused by the negligence of the property owners. These fraudulent lawsuits yielded settlements exceeding $20 million and the respondent collected more than $5 million in legal fees. The respondent was also found to have used mail and cell phone service to communicate with other co-conspirators regarding this fraudulent scheme. 

Under the circumstances of this case, we conclude that the respondent’s conviction of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of 18 USC §§ 1341, 1343, and 1349, is essentially similar to the New York felony of scheme to defraud in the first degree, in violation of Penal Law § 190.65, a class E felony. By virtue of his federal felony conviction, the respondent was automatically disbarred and ceased to be an attorney pursuant to Judiciary Law § 90(4)(a).

The scheme was described by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York

Fraud Scheme participants recruited individuals (the “Patients”) to stage or falsely claim to have suffered trip-and-fall accidents at particular locations throughout the New York City area (the “Accident Sites”).  In the course of the Fraud Scheme, Scheme participants recruited more than 400 Patients.  Members of the Fraud Scheme often recruited Patients who were extremely poor.  For example, it was common for Patients to ask for food when they would appear for their intake meetings with the lawyers.  Many of the Patients did not have sufficient clothing to keep them warm during the winter and had poor quality shoes.  Members of the Fraud Scheme also recruited Patients who were drug addicts, and it was common for Scheme participants to recruit Patients from homeless shelters in New York City.

In the beginning, Scheme participants would instruct Patients to claim they had tripped and fallen at a particular location, when in fact, the Patients had suffered no such accidents.  Eventually, at the direction of the lawyers who filed fraudulent lawsuits on behalf of the Patients, Scheme participants began to instruct Patients to stage trip-and-fall accidents, i.e., to go to a location and deliberately fall.  Common Accident Sites used during the Fraud Scheme included cellar doors, cracks in concrete sidewalks, and purported “potholes.”

After the staged trip-and-fall accidents, Patients were referred to specific attorneys, including CONSTANTINE and ELEFANT, who would file personal injury lawsuits (the “Fraudulent Lawsuits”) against the owners of the Accident Sites and/or insurance companies of the owners of the accident sites (the “Victims”).  The Fraudulent Lawsuits did not disclose that the Patients had deliberately fallen at the Accident Sites or, in some cases, had not fallen at all.  During the course of the Fraud Scheme, the defendants, together with others, attempted to defraud the Victims of more than $31,000,000.  CONSTANTINE personally filed nearly 200 Fraudulent Lawsuits and earned more than $5 million dollars in settlement fees from these fraudulent cases.  ELEFANT likewise filed nearly 200 Fraudulent Lawsuits and earned millions of dollars in settlement fees.

The Patients were also instructed to receive ongoing chiropractic and medical treatment from certain chiropractors and doctors, including DOWD.  The Fraud Scheme participants advised the Patients that if they intended to continue with their lawsuits, they were required to undergo surgery, which was critical to boosting the value of any potential settlement.  Patients generally were told to undergo two surgeries.  Fraud Scheme participants looked for doctors, like DOWD, who were willing to perform surgeries, even when others would not.  During the course of the Scheme, DOWD performed nearly 300 medically unnecessary surgeries and earned more than $3.2 million dollars.  DOWD received approximately $10,000 per surgery.  

(Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2023/08/slipped-and-fell.html