Laura Hess pleads guilty...disbarred for 5 years

[quote]Coral Springs attorney Laura Hess, a principal in a family of shuttered debt settlement companies accused of scamming consumers, pleaded guilty to violating numerous Florida Bar rules and agreed to be disbarred for five years.

The deal reached last week headed off a Bar trial set for this past Monday on a 10-count complaint.

Palm Beach Circuit Judge Jack Cook, acting as The Bar’s referee, recommended in a report released Tuesday that the state Supreme Court accept the disbarment agreement, which was approved by a reviewer for The Bar’s board of governors.

The state tracked $20 million moving from the affiliated Hess Kennedy companies to nonclients in less than two years.

Hess, who received her law license in 2000 and launched Hess Kennedy LLC in 2003, admitted her debt settlement companies used agreements telling clients that their payments would be deposited into trust accounts for payments to creditors, but no such deposits were made.

Cook’s report recommended that Hess, whose law firm and other companies are the subject of multiple civil investigations and consumer complaints, be found guilty of professional misconduct.

Hess admitted violating numerous Bar rules, including a charge that she operated the Hess Kennedy law firm with a nonlawyer partner — a mysterious and possibly fictional person named Edward T. Kennedy.

No one named Edward T. Kennedy is licensed to practice law in Florida. Bar and state investigators believe Kennedy was Edward Cherry, Hess’ main business partner in the debt settlement companies. Cherry, who graduated from the same law school as Hess, passed the New York State Bar examination but was never admitted to practice because of a criminal record.

Palm Beach Gardens attorney David Feingold of Feingold & Kam, who recently signed on to represent Hess on the Bar complaint, declined to comment on the disbarment agreement.

Among other things, Hess admitted using law firm letterhead listing office addresses for out-of-state law firms, to which business was referred in violation of Bar rules against practicing outside a lawyer’s home state. She also admitted sending boilerplate letters to client’s creditors without client authorization or knowledge, “resulting in the failure of [Hess] to communicate with clients and diligently represent them.”

In agreeing to be disbarred, Hess said she did so willingly after consulting counsel. She agreed to cooperate with The Bar in any future investigation, submit to an audit of her trust and other accounts receiving client funds and provide a current financial statement.

The Bar said Hess did not admit any criminal misconduct by signing the agreement. She was ordered to pay $8,806 in Bar investigative costs.

The Florida attorney general’s office obtained a court order in July placing Hess’ companies in receivership, with company assets being used to provide refunds to unhappy customers.

The Florida Supreme Court approved a Bar request in August to suspend Hess’ law license immediately, but the effective date was delayed until Oct. 24 by joint agreement. The new agreement calls for the disbarment to take effect upon approval of the state’s high court.

Hess came into the spotlight in February when Chase Bank USA sued her at federal court in Wilmington, Del., claiming she and her affiliated companies engaged in blatantly illegal and fraudulent practices.[/quote]

http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/Web_Blog_Stories/Oct/Hess_disbarment.html