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Philly Law Firm Charged With Unauthorized Practice for Lawyer-Free Foreclosure Filings
Nothing like more foreclosure-related shenanigans on a cold December morning. Today, it's a law firm in the crosshairs.
According to the ABA Journal, Philadelphia firm Goldbeck, McCafferty & McKeever has been accused of the unauthorized practice of law based on the deposition testimony of two partners who admitted that non-lawyers routinely prepared and filed papers for the firm without any oversight, forging attorneys' names when necessary.
The details are provided in a motion to compel linked from the ABA Journal post, and I will say that the candor of Messrs. Goldbeck and McCafferty is refreshing. I hope these guys have made serious bank from the thousands of foreclosure cases the firm has filed, because I'll be shocked if they keep their licenses. Not only do they admit to authorizing legal secretaries to process and file foreclosure cases without a lawyer even glancing at them, they admit to being unfamiliar with the laws and regulations that govern foreclosures and, in many cases, not even knowing whether or not their clients actually held the mortgages they were seeking to foreclose on.
It's pretty amazing stuff. This article on AOL's DailyFinance has more details, and foreshadows the malpractice suits against the Goldbeck firm that are sure to come. It seems that while his name is still on the "door," so to speak, Mr. Goldbeck is no longer listed in the "attorney profiles" section of the firm's website. Maybe he found a viable exit strategy.
Posted by Eric Lipman on December 6, 2010 at 11:19 AM | Permalink
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