Adoption Attorney back in the news

Well well, it seems our little Kevin Cohen aka Scumbag Adoption Attorney is back in the news. Poor guy probably doesn't like wearing an orange jumpsuit. Too bad, rot in hell.
Adoption ‘Scam’ Lawyer Charged With Assaulting Nassau Jail Guard
By Timothy Bolger on September 30th, 2010


The Roslyn attorney accused of running a nationwide adoption scam allegedly assaulted a Nassau County jail guard last week, prosecutors said.

Kevin Cohen was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on charges of assault and obstructing governmental administration.

Prosecutors said he assaulted a corrections officer Friday at Nassau County jail, where he has been held since he pleaded not guilty in September 2009 to a 69-count indictment accusing him of grand larceny and other charges involving 13 couples.


advertisement Cohen is planning to represent himself at his trial, which is scheduled to begin Monday.

The guard was treated and released for his injuries at a local hospital, according to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department.

No further details about the nature of the incident were made available.

JP Morgan Halts 50K foreclosures because of possible fraud

Leave it up to our favorite "friends" again CORRUPT ATTORNEYS to throw 50,000 people out of their homes on foreclosure. Hope those dirty parasites can live with themselves capitalizing on the misery of others.

NEW YORK (AP) -- JPMorgan Chase has temporarily stopped foreclosing on more than 50,000 homes so it can review documents that might contain errors.

JPMorgan's move Wednesday makes it the second major company to take such action this month, underscoring a growing legal problem. The issue could stall an already overloaded foreclosure process.

Still, analysts don't expect the delays to reduce the number of foreclosures over the long run.

"It will probably slow things down for a couple months while these documents are reviewed," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac Inc. "It won't stop things."

But if the problems turn up at more of the largest mortgage companies, a foreclosure crisis that's already likely to drag on for several more years could persist even longer.

GMAC Mortgage LLC last week halted certain evictions and sales of foreclosed homes in 23 states to review those cases. The company said it found procedural errors in some foreclosure affidavits.

After GMAC's announcement, attorneys general in California and Connecticut told the company to stop foreclosures in their states until it proves it's complying with state law. The Ohio attorney general this week asked judges to review GMAC foreclosure cases. And in Florida, the state attorney general is investigating four law firms, two with ties to GMAC, for allegedly providing fraudulent documents in foreclosure cases.

The issue is also gaining attention on Capitol Hill. Last week, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. and two other lawmakers wrote to Fannie Mae, urging the government-controlled mortgage giant to stop working with so-called "foreclosure mill" law firms under investigation for document fraud.

"Why is Fannie Mae using lawyers that are accused of regularly engaging in fraud to kick people out of their homes?" the lawmakers wrote.

A Fannie Mae spokesman said the company is reviewing the issue.

JPMorgan acknowledged Wednesday that its employees signed some affidavits about loan documents without personally verifying the files. These affidavits verifies the accuracy of the loan information, including who owns the mortgage.

JPMorgan spokesman Kelly said the bank believes the information in the affidavits is accurate, and that the affidavits were prepared by "appropriate personnel."

The bank asked judges not to enter judgments against homeowners facing foreclosure until it completes its review of the problem. JPMorgan expects the process to take a few weeks.

The way mortgages are packaged and sold to many investors as securities can make it hard to determine who has the right to foreclose on a homeowner.

In some states, lenders can foreclose quickly on delinquent mortgage borrowers. But 20 states use a lengthy court process for foreclosures. They require documents to verify information on the mortgage, including who owns it. Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois are the biggest states with this process.

Christopher Immel, a Florida lawyer who represents homeowners, said people who already have lost homes could sue their lender, alleging errors in documents.

In August, a judge in Duval County, Fla., ruled that JPMorgan could not foreclose on two homeowners. The reasoning was that Fannie Mae carried the mortgage on its books and JPMorgan Chase only collected payments on the loan. JPMorgan Chase had identified itself as the owner of the loan.

More lawsuits could come soon.

In May, JPMorgan employee Beth Ann Cottrell said in a deposition that she and her staff of eight signed about 18,000 legal documents a month without reviewing every file. In a similar testimony, GMAC employee Jeffrey Stephan said he signed 10,000 documents a month without personally verifying the mortgage information.

"It's very realistic to believe that this is a standard practice in how they go about foreclosures in certain states," said Immel, whose law firm took Cottrell's and Stephan's depositions.

FOLLOW UP TO THIS ARTICLE 10/13/2010 SEEMS THERE IS A BIG INVESTIGATION INTO FRAUD PAPERWORK UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*Officials in 50 states launch foreclosure probe
By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel, Ap Real Estate Writer
33 mins ago

.WASHINGTON – Officials in 50 states and the District of Columbia have launched a joint investigation into allegations that mortgage companies mishandled documents and broke laws in foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homeowners.

The states' attorneys general and bank regulators will examine whether mortgage company employees made false statements or prepared documents improperly.

Alabama initially did not sign on to the investigation. It reversed course after the joint statement was released.

Attorneys general have taken the lead in responding to a nationwide scandal that's called into question the accuracy and legitimacy of documents that lenders relied on to evict people from the homes. Employees of four large lenders have acknowledged in depositions that they signed off on foreclosure documents without reading them.

The allegations raise the possibility that foreclosure proceedings nationwide could be subject to legal challenge. Some foreclosures could be overturned. More than 2.5 million homes have been lost to foreclosure since the recession started in December 2007, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

The state officials said they intend to use their investigation to fix the problems that surfaced in the mortgage industry.

"This is not simply about a glitch in paperwork," said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading the probe. "It's also about some companies violating the law and many people losing their homes."

Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage Unit, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co. already have halted some questionable foreclosures. Other banks, including Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. have not stopped processing foreclosures, saying they did nothing wrong.

In a joint statement, the officials said they would review evidence that legal documents were signed by mortgage company employees who "did not have personal knowledge of the facts asserted in the documents. They also said that many of those documents appear to have been signed without a notary public witnessing that signature — a violation of most state laws.

"What we have seen are not mere technicalities," said Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray. "This is about the private property rights of homeowners facing foreclosure and the integrity of our court system, which cannot enter judgments based on fraudulent evidence

Adoption Attorney duped 16 couples with empty promises

Alleged Adoption Ponzi Scam Broke the Hearts of Couples Desperate to Adopt
The $60K Adoption Heartbreak: Babies Who Didn't Exist
By ALICE GOMSTYN
ABC NEWS Business Unit
Oct. 5, 2009—


Deborah Josephs cried all the way to central Pennsylvania. It was a long, difficult drive from Port Washington, N.Y., where her husband, Milton, had been hospitalized with a serious skin infection.

She didn't want to leave him, Josephs said, but she was also excited about where she was going.

"I left him there because I thought I would be picking up a baby," she said. "I didn't want to miss an opportunity of a lifetime for our family."

"Now," she said, "I feel like an idiot."

The Josephs are one of at least 16 couples who say they were duped into paying thousands of dollars into an alleged adoption scam run by Roslyn, N.Y., lawyer Kevin Cohen, the founder of the Adoption Annex, a now-defunct, nonprofit adoption services organization.

Prosecutors allege that Cohen, 41, who was arrested late last month, presented himself as a legal expert on adoption proceedings and collected between $20,000 and $40,000 from couples who believed the money would cover medical expenses for pregnant women who planned to give their children up for adoption. The Josephs say they handed over $60,000.

Those would-be adopted children, the Nassau County District Attorney's office said, didn't exist.

"This is among the most morally disgusting thefts I have ever witnessed as a prosecutor," Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a recent statement. "He preyed on the emotions and the hopes of couples at their most vulnerable time."

Last month Cohen pleaded not guilty to felony charges of larceny and scheme to defraud. Cohen's lawyer, Matin Emouna, said he couldn't discuss any of the allegations against him until the district attorney's investigation is complete. Emouna said that Cohen had successfully arranged adoptions in the past, though he didn't know exactly how many.

Rice's office has compared the alleged adoption scam to a Ponzi scheme -- a pyramid scam in which early investors are paid from funds provided by new investors. In the adoption case, the district attorney's office spokesman Eric Phillips said Cohen had provided partial or complete refunds to some couples whose adoptions fell through using money provided by Cohen's newer clients.

But most of the couples, Phillips said, believed that Cohen would ultimately deliver.

They "held out hope that they were going to get a baby," he said.

The Josephs were among them.


Paying for Two Babies, Hoping to Get One
Milton Josephs, 41, an elementary school teacher, and Deborah Josephs, 44, a human resources consultant, met Cohen in March 2009, Deborah Josephs said.

By then, the couple, who have a 6-year-old daughter, had spent more than two years trying to adopt a child. They placed advertisements in local newspapers across the country, looking for pregnant women who would allow the Josephs to adopt their children.

Some women responded to the Josephs' ads but would later change their minds, she said, choosing to give their babies to other couples or not to give them up at all.

"I would try to connect with these women, try to convince them we are the best couple in the world," Josephs said. "It never panned out."

In March, Cohen gave them new hope, Josephs said. He told the couple that he knew not one but two pregnant women who wanted to put their babies up for adoption, Josephs said.

Deborah Josephs said they agreed to pay the expenses for both women and Cohen's fee -- a total of $60,000 -- even though they only planned to adopt one child. She said that Cohen told them that if both women ultimately followed through on the adoptions, one child could go to another couple who couldn't afford to pay the birth mother's medical expenses.

Under the arrangement, Deborah Josephs said, if only one of the birth mothers agreed to an adoption, the Josephs would get her child.

"If we could fund that second birth mother, we were guaranteed one baby," Josephs said. "It was a kind of insurance."

One of the women, Josephs said she was told, was a teenage college student living in State College, Pa.; the other was a young woman in Lincoln, Neb. Josephs said Cohen provided them with medical records for the women, although he kept their last names confidential and said they couldn't contact the women directly.

"He felt it was better this way," Josephs said.


Cohen: 'A Good Actor'?
The Josephs grew confident in Cohen, Deborah Josephs said, in part because of his background. He told them that he was adopted from Ireland.

"It made us think he completely understood what it was all about," she said.

It also helped, she said, that the Josephs and the Cohens had a friend in common: Cohen went to high school with the husband of one of Deborah Josephs' friends.

By the summer, Deborah Josephs and Cohen were meeting regularly, she said. Over coffee, he would tell her his plans to raise money for adopted children with special needs, Josephs said.

"He, to me, seemed really philanthropic," she said. "He was always very thankful to me for my time, for chatting with him."

"He seemed like a really nice person," Josephs said. "He was a good actor, I guess."

But by the middle of the summer, things began to go awry. Cohen had originally told the Josephs that both women were due in early August, Deborah Josephs said. But in July, Cohen told them the due dates for both had been pushed back several days. In early August, Cohen told them the dates were pushed back again, to August 20, Josephs said.

Eventually, Josephs said he told them that both women would have to have labor induced Sept. 2 and Sept. 3, Josephs said.

"We definitely got suspicious then, but not suspicious enough," Josephs said.

The couple decided to split their efforts, with Deborah Josephs traveling to Pennsylvania to be there for one child's birth and Milton Josephs traveling to Nebraska for the birth of the other.

Milton Josephs' travel plans were canceled when he was hospitalized, but the couple decided that Deborah should still head to Pennsylvania.

"This was our day," she said. "This was it."

"I thought it would be one of the happiest moments of my life."

It wasn't.

The next day, Josephs said, after she'd arrived at State College, Cohen called her and told her not to come to the hospital.

Cohen told her there were complications with the delivery and that the baby's health was uncertain, she said. He told Josephs to return home and wait, she said.

Josephs said she was devastated. She worried about the baby and the birth mother. When she drove back to Port Washington, where her husband was recovering from his infection, she felt empty, she said.

Josephs said news from Cohen in the days to come didn't make her feel much better. The woman in Nebraska, he allegedly told them, had left the hospital without signing adoption consent forms. The Pennsylvania woman, Josephs said she was told, was too medicated following a Caesarian section to sign the forms.

'We Wanted to Believe'
By Labor Day weekend, Josephs said, she and her husband had had enough.

"We stepped out of our emotions for five seconds, enough to critically look at what was going on," she said. "We wanted to believe there were two babies -- we wanted so badly to believe everything he was saying, [but] when we started to think about the information he was giving us ... it led us in a different direction."

The direction they ultimately took was to a private investigator, who advised them to go to the Nassau District Attorney's Office.

Cohen was arrested Sept. 25 on charges of larceny and fraud in connection with the alleged adoption scheme. Law enforcement also said at the time that Cohen already had other criminal charges pending against him in connection to an alleged attempt to illegally transfer property to his name. Emouna, Cohen's lawyer, said his client had pleaded not guilty to those charges but could not comment further because that case, he said, was also still under investigation.

Meanwhile, the district attorney's office said it has heard from 15 other would-be adoptive couples from four different states -- New York, Texas, Georgia and Ohio -- with claims against Cohen.

Cohen's next court date is Tuesday. If convicted, he could face 15 years in prison.

Josephs said that she and her husband are sharing their story to encourage other would-be adoptive couples to be sure they do their homework and check references before they agree to an adoption arrangement.

"They really should know who they're working with," Deborah Josephs said.

The Josephs would still like to adopt a child someday, though Deborah Josephs said she's not quite ready to start the adoptive process all over again.

"We haven't gotten past this yet," she said.


ARMENIAN PROVERB:

The Bitch dog that barks and growls, bites off its paws as their past communication incriminates them.
The more the Bitch dog barks, the LESS puppies will be available and the closer the Bitch Dog will forever be in the dog house.

Think about it.

Vanessa Kachadurian: Vanessa Kachadurian-Lawyer Sex Texting and preyed ...

Vanessa Kachadurian: Vanessa Kachadurian-Lawyer Sex Texting and preyed ...: "Making crime victims double victims should not be tolerated By Natalie J. Ostgaard Crookston Daily Times Posted Sep 17, 2010 @ 01:17 P..."

Vanessa Kachadurian-Lawyer Sex Texting and preyed on crime victim he was sworn to protect.

Making crime victims double victims should not be tolerated

By Natalie J. Ostgaard
Crookston Daily Times
Posted Sep 17, 2010 @ 01:17 PM
Crookston — According to 100 people surveyed for Family Feud, lawyers rank right up there with politicians as the top unethical and corrupt professions. While the scientific value of Family Feud polls is certainly questionable, more often than not, they tend to reflect the public’s thoughts. That said, this does not mean that all or even most lawyers are unethical and corrupt, just that people perceive them to be, more so than other professions.

Calumet County, Wis. District Attorney Kenneth Kratz isn’t helping to disprove this perception, instead proving himself to be one of the supreme dirtbags among his peers. In a blatant conflict of interest, this guy preyed on a crime victim half his age, whose ex-boyfriend he happened to be prosecuting for nearly choking her to death, by “sexting” her 30 provocative and suggestive text messages that started right after he first interviewed her regarding the case. An Associated Press story details a few of the messages, which, from the standpoint here, leave nothing to the imagination. It is quite obvious that Kratz is explicitly attempting to initiate an affair (he was married at the time) with the woman.

This was sexual harassment and intimidation at its finest. The woman did nothing to bring on the unwanted attention and when she let him know she was not interested, the prosecutor tried to cut down her self-esteem. She said felt pressured to have a relationship with him or he'd drop the charges against her abuser, as one message alluded to.

Now a double victim, she did the right thing by promptly filing a complaint with the police. Kratz then removed himself from the case, citing an undisclosed conflict of interest, so the state took it on and won a conviction.

You'd think this would have allowed the victim to sleep better at night, yet she still feels victimized. That's because Kratz has not had to face the music for what he's done, nearly a year later. The police referred the woman's complaint to the state Division of Criminal Investigation, which she said declined to charge him because they didn't think, criminally, he did anything wrong.

Kratz claimed his resignation from the Wisconsin Crime Victims' Rights Board, an agency he (ironically) helped create that can reprimand judges, prosecutors and police officers who mistreat crime victims, is a self-imposed sanction. He also claimed the Office of Lawyer Regulation found no violation of rules governing attorney misconduct, although there's no proof of this.

The allegations against Kratz only became public when the AP got wind of them and confronted him with the messages. He said he "was embarrassed at this lapse of judgment." He refuses to step down from his post.

This was much more than a lapse of judgment. While the conduct may, according to Wisconsin law, be barely legal, no one can deny that it was pure stupidity, pompousness and recklessness on Kratz's part. Does Calumet County really want this borderline criminal prosecuting its criminal cases? What's going to happen next time he pulls a similar stunt?

Kratz is not up for re-election until 2012. His behavior needs to be investigated further before then and perhaps more sanctions brought upon him, possibly ousting him from office. The guy sounds a little too unstable.

Copyright 2010 Crookston Times. Some rights reserved

Vanessa Kachadurian: Vanessa Kachadurian-Edward Amalyan Who are you?

Vanessa Kachadurian: Vanessa Kachadurian-Edward Amalyan Who are you?: "This article was sent to me from a friend in Armenia. This could be a case of 2 people having the same name but this has a group of people ..."

Vanessa Kachadurian-Edward Amalyan Who are you?

This article was sent to me from a friend in Armenia. This could be a case of 2 people having the same name but this has a group of people in Armenia's Ministry cabinet questioning "Who is Edward Amalyan"
Is this the same Edward Amalyan that claims to be an "attorney" and works as a contractor in Armenia for Adoption Agencies gathering referrals (adoptable children)

Ritzio Entertainment Group, belonging to Oleg Boiko, intends to develop local stores under the brand Relish in the Moscow suburbs and in the regions where slot halls have closed, informed Larissa Shishkin, the press secretary of the holding, earlier. The first shops have already opened in the Moscow region and some in other regions, and in the near future the chain may announce new projects. Also in St. Petersburg Oleg Briskly has managed to agree with discounter Dixi on opening mini markets of the retail shops of VMart in the place of former gambling halls. Jackpot, controlled by German Goglichidze, is moving in a similar direction, and at the end of last year signed an agreement of intentions with X5 Retail Group to open Perekryostok supermarkets in its premises. In total within the limits of the program it may open 100 to 200 supermarkets. The fourth largest gambling company — Zolotoi Arbuz — owned by Edward Amalyan and Dmitry Yakushev (also manage a chain of clubs by the same name, and also the Fan-fan chain) from the end of last year has developed a chain of florists called Iris and Tyulpanoff in place of its slot halls. It is possible that in the long term the remaining gambling halls of the company will be reoriented under this retail format.

Vanessa Kachadurian: Why do Lawyers have the highest rate of Depression...

Vanessa Kachadurian: Why do Lawyers have the highest rate of Depression...: "Vanessa Kachadurian on corrupt and sick lawyers- This explains it! DEPRESSION STATISTICS IN GENERAL & IN LAWYERS Fast Facts About Depr..."

VanessaKachadurian-Armenia Sisters of Charity: Vanessa Kachadurian-Touring Hospitals in Armenia a...

VanessaKachadurian-Armenia Sisters of Charity: Vanessa Kachadurian-Touring Hospitals in Armenia a...: "Ah'man Hokiss, this little moog was born the day before we arrived in the hospital at Shushi (Artsakh) There was also a baby abandoned ..."

Vanessa Kachadurian: Vanessa Kachadurian-Tulsa Lawyer accused of bilkin...

Vanessa Kachadurian: Vanessa Kachadurian-Tulsa Lawyer accused of bilkin...: "Tulsa lawyer accused of bilking widow of $1 million-plus The woman has filed a lawsuit against the attorney. Defendant in lawsuit Jasen C..."

Vanessa Kachadurian-Tulsa Lawyer accused of bilking widow of $1 million plus

Tulsa lawyer accused of bilking widow of $1 million-plus
The woman has filed a lawsuit against the attorney.

Defendant in lawsuit
Jasen Corns: The suit, filed in Tulsa County District Court by Elizabeth Lorene Stambaugh, alleges that Corns persuaded her to pay off his home's nearly $154,000 mortgage and to pay $579,000 for a second home for him. Stambaugh alleges that Corns "wrongfully induced" her to make disbursements out of her trust. Also, her trust was revised to leave Corns 40 percent of its net value upon her death, a change he requested, the suit alleges.
By GAVIN OFF World Data Editor
Published: 9/11/2010 2:24 AM
Last Modified: 9/11/2010 5:53 AM

A Tulsa attorney is accused in a lawsuit of taking more than $1 million in gifts and money from an 88-year-old Tulsa widow he was representing.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Tulsa County District Court by Elizabeth Lorene Stambaugh, alleges that attorney Jasen Corns persuaded Stambaugh to pay off his home's nearly $154,000 mortgage and to pay $579,000 for a second home for him.

Stambaugh alleges in the lawsuit that Corns "wrongfully induced" her to make disbursements out of her trust.

Also, Stambaugh's trust was revised to leave Corns 40 percent of its net value upon her death, a change requested by Corns, the suit alleges.

The suit names Corns and his law firm, Jenks Law.

Corns said he was not involved in the revisions to the trust and was told that he has been removed as a trust beneficiary.

"During his representation of Stambaugh, Corns prevailed on Stambaugh to make various gifts and loans out of her personal funds and the corpus of the Trust, resulting in at least $1,466,233 being distributed out of the Trust and her personal funds to him, his creditors and members of his immediate family," the lawsuit alleges.

Stambaugh's attorney declined to comment.

Corns said he began representing Stambaugh in 2005. He said the money he received from her was for his time working, amounting to 15 to 20 hours a week at a rate of $200 an hour for five years.

Corns said he ended the relationship with Stambaugh in August after she threatened to hurt his family.

"She promised, in recorded messages, to make sure, in her exact words, that my 'reputation was gone,' " Corns said via e-mail. "That is what her frivolous lawsuit is about."

He added: "As for any specific allegations, I deny all of them, other than the fact that she compensated me for my time for more than five years."

Specific allegations include that Stambaugh paid the mortgage of his former home and bought Corns a new one.

According to the suit, Stambaugh tried to get a mortgage from Corns for his former house to secure the nearly $154,000 payment she gave him. But Corns never signed or filed the mortgage or executed a promissory note, the lawsuit states.

"During their relationship, Corns and Jenks Law procured other substantial amounts of money from Stambaugh by the use of actual fraud, and/or other means which were against equity and good conscience toward an elderly person who placed trust and confidence in him," the suit states.

"She has never loaned me any money or bought me a house," Corns said. "I purchased my own home with income I earned, and all records reflect that."

Tulsa County property records show that Corns bought a house in the 5300 block of 94th Court in 2002. In 2004, he took out a $151,200 mortgage and paid it off in 2006. Last year, he sold the house for $171,000 and bought a property in the 4300 block of 118th Street for $579,000, the records show.

"Instead of paying back the aforesaid loan, however, Corns falsely represented to Stambaugh that the house had not sold, and that its new occupants were merely renters," the lawsuit states.

Stambaugh is seeking a judgment of more than $10,000, punitive damages and a constructive trust over the 118th Street property.

The lawsuit also alleges claims of actual and constructive fraud, breach of contract, "money had and received" and professional malpractice.



Gavin Off 732-8106
gavin.off@tulsaworld.com

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20100911_11_A15_CUTLIN6416

Vanessa Kachadurian-Lawyers that play in Rock Bands

Seems there are a lot of lawyers attracted to drugs, sex and rock n roll. Many moonlight and play in bands - maybe to forget the pain they inflict on others or because they have delusions of grandeur. Most that moonlight in rock bands are losers and tend to be short in height and feel miserable about themselves. They look down on others as if they are better than them and associate with questionable people.
Lawyers Rock to the Beat of Their Own Drummer

Lemonhead-turned-lawyer jams at attorney-owned coffeehouse as both reprise musical past

Janet L. Conley
Fulton County Daily Report
June 16, 2008

If you dropped by Kavarna, a hip coffeehouse and music venue in Decatur, Ga., this past Saturday night, you probably saw two lawyers who love music taking center stage, each in his own way.

Behind the soundboard you saw Wystan Getz, a Decatur criminal defense attorney who owns Kavarna and serves as its sound engineer a couple of nights a week; at the mic you saw John Strohm, who once played drums and guitar with indie rock bands Blake Babies and the Lemonheads and who's now an entertainment lawyer in Birmingham, Ala.

Both Getz and Strohm, who met recently via MySpace, have found a way to mix their first love -- music -- with their day jobs in law.

For Getz, law practice isn't just a way to keep his hand in the restaurant business. It's a way to do what he believes in. And it's clear from the moment you walk into his law office that he's comfortable expressing his views. On his waiting room coffee table, you'll see a copy of High Times, where he advertises his practice, next to the Fulton County Daily Report and the music magazine Paste.

The former Rockdale County assistant public defender who self-identifies on his Web site as "marijuana defender" divides his time between his practice, which focuses on criminal defense work including DUIs and drug cases, and stop-in-for-a-latte-and-stay-for-the-show Kavarna.

JAVA JOINT

Kavarna got its start when Getz purchased an existing business in February 2007 and grew it from a morning java joint into a day-to-night coffee-and-wine bar offering sandwiches, small plates and, three nights a week, live music.

His wife, Jill Wasserman, a King & Spalding attorney, helps him with music-licensing issues that arise, and his own legal and entrepreneurial skills help him spot not just dram shop liability and employment law issues, they also help him handle organization, multitasking and -- believe it or not -- customer service.

"Being an attorney is, essentially, providing personal services to people, and that's what this business is, too," he said. "We're providing personal services -- although in the form of refreshments and entertainment rather than solving crises. In a lot of ways, it's the same."

He has an ex-Aurora Coffee manager running Kavarna, but acknowledged that the food-and-drinks business is taking up more and more of his time these days -- about 60 percent compared with the 40 percent he spends practicing law.

Getz, who plays the guitar, keyboard, oboe and English horn but hasn't performed publicly in some time because of a tremor that makes playing difficult, said one of his motivations for launching Kavarna was to stay close to his musical roots.

"I think that for me, that's some of the interest in this business," he said. "And it doesn't matter that my fingering technique is not that good anymore."

Instead, he handles sound engineering for the musicians he books. And he books musicians he likes -- including Strohm, who now practices at Johnston Barton Proctor & Rose in Birmingham, but who spent the 1990s rocking out with some of the country's most popular indie bands at the time. Strohm co-founded Blake Babies with Juliana Hatfield, now a noted solo artist; his then-girlfriend, Freda Boner, was the drummer. He later played drums and guitar and toured with the pop-punk band the Lemonheads and its lead singer, Evan Dando, performing on two of the group's albums, "Creator" (1988) and "Lovey" (1990).

LISTENED AS STUDENT

Getz, who's from Nashville, said he liked Strohm's music for years and began listening to it while a student at Williams College in Massachusetts. Strohm, for part of that time, was a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston and was an integral part of the Boston music scene Getz enjoyed.

The two never met during their New England days, but Getz said he knew Strohm had become a lawyer and sent him a message via his MySpace page recently to see if he'd play at Kavarna.

Strohm said yes.

In an interview from his office in Birmingham, Strohm said he rarely plays in public these days, doing what he calls "proper shows" only a few times a year.

The demands of a law practice and a young family -- he's an associate at Johnston Barton and the father of a 5-year-old and a 7-month-old -- keep him close to home most nights.

But he still keeps both hands in the music business. In 2007, he released a solo album called "Everyday Life" on the Superphonic Records label; music business contacts he made as a performer, he said, are what help him get clients now.

"The reason I'm able to attract clients is because I have this depth of experience on the artist side," he said. "All my work comes through word of mouth. It's very nichey. I have friends and contacts in the industry who talk me up."

'DAY JOB WENT AWAY'

But his role in that industry underwent a dramatic change in 1997. That's when the Lemonheads broke up. "What was essentially my day job went away," he said.

Strohm followed the woman who'd become his wife back to her hometown in Birmingham, where she'd landed a job in banking. He began looking for work, too, but there wasn't much available for a guy with experience as a touring musician and studio sound engineer.

"It was really a cold shot of reality, because I realized I just wasn't equipped to make a living unless I was traveling. I had an enormous amount of arcane knowledge and skills that were not useful in the job market," he says.

So, in his 20s, he went back to college and got a history degree with a music minor from the University of Alabama-Birmingham, then went on to graduate magna cum laude from Cumberland School of Law in 2004.

An Atlanta entertainment lawyer -- sole practitioner David Prasse, who'd represented Strohm when he was performing -- encouraged him to get into the legal side of the music business.

"That really meant a lot," Strohm said.

Prasse, who counts Mastodon -- named best metal band by Rolling Stone magazine in April -- and bluegrass band Act of Congress among his clients, said he'd done some record deals with Strohm and noticed that the musician "had an eye for the players in the industry who were good to work with and who to stay away from."

Also, he added, "I thought John Strohm had the intelligence and personality and experience to be a music attorney who could really help a lot of people."

Strohm started out practicing law at Bradley Arant in Birmingham, then moved to Johnston Barton where he represents a variety of indie rock bands, including Montreal, which rocker Kevin Barnes founded in Athens, Ga., in the 1990s.

Strohm said he had moments in law school where he thought, "Where am I? What am I doing? Have I completely screwed this up?"

But now he has no plans -- or desire -- to return to full-time performing. In his last few years as a rocker, he said, he felt a lot of anxiety because he really wanted a family but knew a music career wouldn't provide the stability they'd need. Real music careers are stressful, he said.

"I wanted to be involved with music but not sweat bullets like that," he said.

STABILITY

Law practice offers that involvement without the instability. "If one of my solo albums freakishly took off and did really well, that would cause a lot of problems for me," he added, pointing out that it is hard to take a family on tour. "My kids are used to seeing me every day ... they hate it when I leave town."

"Would I give up my practice at age 41? I doubt it."

Getz, too, says he doesn't plan to ditch his criminal defense practice and become a full-time restaurateur.

Getz -- whose most memorable cases include helping The Innocence Project use DNA evidence to exonerate Clarence Harrison in 2004 for an erroneous rape conviction and representing William J. Kollie, an armed robber who was slapped with seven consecutive life sentences, the longest in Georgia history -- said Kavarna helps him keep perspective on the stress his law practice creates, and vice versa.

"It's nice to have a little bit of diversity going on," he said.

Vanessa Kachadurian: Georgia Tann or Edna Gladney?

Vanessa Kachadurian: Georgia Tann or Edna Gladney?: "Edna Gladney or Georgia Tann? To understand the 2007 legislative efforts in Texas with HB525/SB221 in the light of US adoption histo..."

Vanessa Kachadurian-Corrupt and Crazy Attorneys

Poor Catherine Shelton, first a murder trial where she is disbarred, then a shoplifting case.
Former Dallas lawyer Catherine Shelton gets probation for shoplifting

12:00 AM CST on Saturday, January 17, 2009

By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News
jemily@dallasnews.com

A disbarred Dallas defense lawyer with a long history of questionable ethical and criminal conduct – including as a murder suspect – was sentenced Friday to probation for shoplifting.


Former lawyer Catherine Shelton has had a series of run-ins with the law. Catherine Shelton, 60, pleaded guilty in exchange for three years' probation. She will serve a two-year prison sentence if she violates her probation, which will be moved to Harris County, where she lives.

State District Judge Michael Snipes told Shelton that he felt sorry for her but that she had brought shame and discredit to the legal community.

"Mendacity, cunning and guile have been your moral compass," the judge told her as she stood before him after showing up to the hearing more than 30 minutes late.

Shelton wore a tan trench coat and black loafers as she testified briefly in a soft voice. She asked that Snipes defer her sentence so she would not have a theft conviction if she completed her probation. Snipes denied her request.

Her sentence stems from a November 2007 arrest in which she was accused of shoplifting a $1,195 Marc Jacobs purse, two shirts worth $326 and an $8 candle from the Nordstrom store at NorthPark Center.

"I was apparently seeking to carry everything that I could," she testified about the day she tried to steal from Nordstrom. "I was under an enormous amount of stress at the time. I failed to live up to the very high standards of the world."

She testified that she is working for $8.50 an hour and is in a government computer training program. She also is undergoing psychiatric care.

"I'm doing a lot better," she told the court.

Shelton told Snipes that she wanted to live "a quiet, unobserved life" in Houston.

She declined to comment after the hearing, whispering "please don't."

This is not the first time Shelton has been in trouble. And her brushes with the law have been the subject of many news stories and were profiled in national television programs.

She was suspected but never charged in the December 1999 shooting death of her office manager's husband, Michael Hierro. Clint Shelton, her husband, is serving a life sentence for the crime.

Marissa Hierro, the office manager, filed and then dropped a wrongful-death lawsuit against Shelton over her husband's death.

Shelton also faced a wrongful-death lawsuit in 1980 when her former lover, a Houston anesthesiologist, was bludgeoned to death in his garage. Shelton was suing him for divorce at the time, arguing that they had a common-law marriage and that she was pregnant. He was found dead the day they were to appear in court.

The lawsuit, filed by the doctor's estate, alleged that Shelton and one of her former clients conspired to murder the doctor. That suit also was dropped.

Shelton later was convicted of aggravated assault for shooting a former boyfriend. She also was convicted of assaulting a pregnant former friend.

She also has faced numerous complaints from legal clients and has been disbarred twice. But those disbarments were reversed, and her license was reinstated – once because she was not properly notified about a hearing and another time because paperwork was missing.

She lost her law license in May because she was a no-show at two hearings while serving three years' probation for misrepresenting herself as an immigration lawyer.

The suspension ends in 2010. But Shelton testified Thursday that she could not imagine seeking to reinstate her law license when her suspension expires.

"I don't even think about that anymore," she told the judge

Vanessa Kachadurian-Will the State Bar Ever make Attorney's accountable?

http://www.open.salon.com/blog/bonnie_russell/2010/09/01/will_state_bars_ever_make_attorneys_accountabilty_can_they

Read this excellent article about how the California State Bar Association which is really a trade organization is overseen by fellow attorneys. Isn't this a bit like the fox watching the hen house?

Shouldn't the California State Bar Association be over seen by a seperate ethical entity? My suggestion is retired or inactive lawyers or those that have a JD but no Bar license.

Vanessa Kachadurian - Malicious Prosecution

An action for damages brought by one against whom a civil suit or criminal proceeding has been unsuccessfully commenced without PROBABLE CAUSE and for a purpose other than that of bringing the alleged offender to justice.

An action for malicious prosecution is the remedy for baseless and malicious litigation. It is not limited to criminal prosecutions but may be brought in response to any baseless and malicious litigation or prosecution, whether criminal or civil. The criminal defendant or civil respondent in a baseless and malicious case may later file this claim in civil court against the parties who took an active role in initiating or encouraging the original case. The defendant in the initial case becomes the plaintiff in the malicious prosecution suit, and the plaintiff or prosecutor in the original case becomes the defendant. In most states the claim must be filed within a year after the end of the original case.

A claim of malicious prosecution is a tort action. A TORT action is filed in civil court to recover money damages for certain harm suffered. The plaintiff in a malicious prosecution suit seeks to win money from the respondent as recompense for the various costs associated with having to defend against the baseless and vexatious case.



Read more: Malicious Prosecution - Elements Of Proof, Damages, Other Considerations, Further Readings - Action, False, Civil, Arrest, Criminal, and Baseless http://law.jrank.org/pages/8407/Malicious-Prosecution.html#ixzz0yjI0zca9

Vanessa Kachadurian Best Lawyer Story of the Year!!

Subject: FW: BEST LAWYER STORY OF THE YEAR - Only in America

BEST LAWYER STORY OF THE YEAR, DECADE AND PROBABLY THE CENTURY!!

Charlotte, North Carolina. USA.

A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against, among other things, fire. Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost 'in a series of small fires.' The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The lawyer sued.. and WON!

(Stay with me.)

Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company, which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable fire' and was obligated to pay the claim!

Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars lost in the 'fires'.

NOW, FOR THE BEST PART

After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!

With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine. This is a true story and was the First Place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest!

ONLY IN AMERICA!