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Attorney Grievance Commission v. Zuckerman4/13/2005
rrived in his office on or about June 15, 2002. A comparison of the check stubs with the bank statement and investigation into the missing return checks from the statement would have revealed Ms. Becker's theft. However, respondent delegated that task to Stacy Kohler, another of his employees. who never reported back to him concerning the assigned task. As a result, Ms. Becker continued to steal from respondent's trust account until mid-July when an anonymous telephone call informed him that Ms. Becker was stealing from him. Upon this information becoming known to him, respondent examined the June bank statement, and detected her theft. He immediately began an intense examination of his trust account which resulted in his discovery that Ms. Becker had been stealing from the trust account.
Mr. Zuckerman was responsible for oversight of his trust account, which he abrogated. In his exceptions, Mr. Zuckerman, in fact, admits that "the relatively brief additional window of time involved may have afforded Ms. Becker the further opportunity to steal." Thus, this exception is denied.
Exception 3: Mr. Zuckerman alleges that the hearing judge's factual findings were that there were 109 instances in which clients had negative balances in his trust account. He argues that the record does not show by clear and convincing evidence that any such negative balances existed on his account.
First of all, Judge Prevas did not find that there were 109 times where the trust account had a negative balance. Rather, Judge Prevas explicitly found that "A subsequent investigation by John Debone, a paralegal for the Attorney Grievance Commission, who examined respondent's trust account statements, deposit slips, and deposited items, shows that a total of 109 clients of the respondent had negative balances between 1998 and 2002."
The bank statements, admitted in evidence as exhibit 10, indicate that on 109 occasions Mr. Zuckerman paid out more money on behalf of the client than he had on deposit in his trust account for that client, which is also corroborated by the testimony of Ms. Elkins, a paralegal hired by Mr. Zuckerman to review the trust account statements. An analysis of the trust account statements and the corresponding client ledgers, admitted in evidence as exhibit 6, shows that the total amount paid to Mr. Zuckerman's clients in this manner was $311,898.11. We, therefore, conclude that the hearing judge's factual findings are supported by clear and convincing evidence and overrule this exception.
Exception 4: "Respondent vigorously excepts to the judge's characterization . . . `that [Zuckerman] advanced a total of $311,898.13 to his personal injury clients with checks drawn on his trust account before the funds belonging to those clients were deposited in his trust account.'"
Exception 6: "Respondent excepts, for the same reasons heretofore stated, to any other instances where the hearing judge in the Findings makes a factual finding that an improper advance had occurred or that respondent did not properly safeguard his clients' funds or other assets, or was not concerned with doing so or otherwise acted improperly with respect to his trust account."
By his own admission, Mr. Zuckerman "readily acknowledges that [he paid clients with funds belonging to others] on occasions, but only where the case involved had been settled, the settlement funds received, appropriate releases executed and delivered and the client involved having been furnished a proper and fully explained settlement sheet." He disputes that in so doing, he advanced "the money to clients from other clients' funds" because of his entitlement theory. Judge Prevas's finding of fact
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