Remembering Old Cases

My secretary Mirta has been working on cleaning up old trust account balances. When we settle a case, we keep in trust the medical bills owed to a provider, and then negotiate a settlement with the provider (hospital or doctor) and then remit the savings to the client.

Often this process takes YEARS, since the health care bureaucracy is nearly impenetrable. The problem is particularly bad when our clients are illegal immigrants, and they don't qualify for Medicaid. I'll offer the hospitals what they would have gotten from Medicaid, or a private insurer, and they usually say "no," they want full retail price ($15 for an aspirin --that sort of thing).

I hold the funds for years, and then contact them to offer a settlement, and find out they've simply written off the account, so my client gets all of the money.

No wonder public hospitals in South Florida are in such bad financial shape --their incompetent staffs don't even know how to collect money when its offered.

I know a lawyer who had a gambling addiction, and used the trust fund medical fees to feed it. He stole over $1 million from his clients. He's now an ex-lawyer, working as a paralegal for his former employee. He paid back less than $100,000.00, and served less than a few days in jail (and that was only due to a bench warrant from LAs Vegas where he stiffed a casino for about $10K). I guess crime DOES pay...

Anyway -- I was reminded about a humorous incident with one of my illegal immigrant clients. The fellow, a laborer from Mexico, was burned on a roof project on Miami Beach. He wandered over to the job site looking for work, and ANOTHER illegal worker told him to grab a bucket of hot tar and carry it up a ladder. The tar spilled, burning his arms.

The construction company owner, himself a convicted drug dealer, had no required Workers Compensation coverage, so my client was free to sue the company for "failing to provide a safe workplace."

My client was PETRIFIED that we were going to turn him in to the Feds, and have him deported. My old secretary Norma repeatedly told him we'd NEVER do that. First, it would be unethical, and second, if he were deported, we couldn't finish his case and earn our fee. I think he believed the second reason more...

Anyway, we got lucky with his case. The company owner was rearrested, and sent to federal prison for his drug dealing. The insurance carrier realized that, at trial, their insured would be testifying by video, in prison stripes, and they'd lose. They settled with us for nearly $400,000.00.

I invited the client to the office to sign the papers, and arrange for the funds to be wired back to MExico, where his sister was a banker. Poor guy --he came to my office, and his eyes were darting around the whole time, waiting to be arrested.

Norma, the client, and I were in our conference room, signing the papers. MY friend Steve, a local cop, happened into my office, as he was patrolling Metro Rail, and wanted to see if I were free for lunch. He was in full uniform. He waved hello to Mirta, then our receptionist, and strolled into the conference room.

The client looked up, and did a classically comic double take. His eyes grew wide. He began to sweat. "Aha!" he must have thought --"I was right. They're going to take my money and have me arrested!!!!"

After several beats, Norma and I realized what was happening. Pointing at Steve, we said, don't worry --he's a friend. Steve had to wait outside.

The client signed the papers, and literally ran out of the office, still convinced we were out to get him.

He went back to Mexico, expecting to live on the more that $250,000 he had obtained. His paranoia turned out to be misplaced.

He called a few months later, to report that his sister, the banker, had stolen his money! Apparently her bank's "fees" for processing the wire transfer, about equalled the amount of his principal.

Last I heard, he had hired a MExican lawyer, and was trying to get his money back.

Norma's been retired for years, and Steve's still a cop. He hasn't scared any of my clients in awhile.