Going to court can be stressful, right, pandas? A lot is at stake, and naturally, everyone wants the outcome to go in their favor. But while most people try to make their case and hope for the best, some are willing to bend the rules, twist the truth, or do just about anything to win. And honestly, some of what people come up with is pretty unbelievable!
We came across an online discussion where lawyers shared some of the most unethical things they've seen people do to win lawsuits. From outright lies to some seriously questionable tactics, these legal professionals have witnessed quite a bit over the years. We've rounded up some of their most surprising stories for you, so keep scrolling to see just how far some people will go to win a case!
This post may include affiliate links.
#41
How’s this? Attorney constantly lies to clients about the probability of them winning their immigration claims ( in removal proceedings) to get as much money out of them as possible…….
Report
1point
#42
I don't typically like to post, but this is something I've held close to my heart.
Workers compensation here - to give you context, our old firm was sold & bought by a young attorney from a rich background. He promoted all of the staff to paralegals & chased out all the other atty so it was only him. He didn't have to practice or go to court since our firm was a third party administrator that created MSA & we submitted them to CMS. He would smoke pot & drink in his office with the door closed but it would get so foggy & leak into the other rooms.
We had one IT guy, three paralegals & an intern.
After he bought us, he went out and bought a firm that handled post settlement distribution. Essential, we had to write reports to submit showing how the money was being used. By law, it had to be submitted yearly to show CMS and Medicare that yes, these expenses are for his injury.
With that purchase, we controlled close to 8+million dollars.
Myself & another paralegal were semi trained in the reports. I say semi because he fired the entire staff of the other firm & gave the old manager 12 hours to train us....
As we started doing the reports, we noticed that there was money being moved out and by law you are required to show if money is taken in and out. We did the reports and gave them to our attorney to review. He flips out on us & tells us not to show the money distribution. I'm taking about millions being moved around.
At first, we thought it was weird but didn't want to argue with him. Then as we learn the job, we realized what he was doing. He started buying cars, expanding the firm to include automobile accidents cause WTH....
I would do the reports correctly & send then without his approval. He never noticed.
He stopped sending the clients their statement because they were so trusting but also old/injured.
One client called asking for his statement & our attorney lied & says the bank was not sending any out.
I quit. I couldn't do it.
I don't know how much money he stole, but he came from an old family of money so anything he spent, he eventually moved back in with his own money I'm sure.
I sent my reports with a hand written note to CMS /medicare asking for help to report him. I showed where he was moving money. I never heard back even after a few months of the submissions.
The firm is still around. I still talk to the IT guy but everyone quit after I left for other jobs. The firm will do nurse care working as well. They still do submission & still have the post settlement firm. The building looks deteriorated cause I drive past it sometimes.
I was really young, think college age & I didn't know you could report him for what he was doing. I didn't collect any evidence because we were afraid to get in trouble too. It still weighs heavily on me thinking about all those clients & I have so many regrets. It's been over ten years now.
I'm a paralegal for family law, super straight family owned firm that cares for it's clients & staff. I love it but I do still think back a lot on this.
Workers compensation here - to give you context, our old firm was sold & bought by a young attorney from a rich background. He promoted all of the staff to paralegals & chased out all the other atty so it was only him. He didn't have to practice or go to court since our firm was a third party administrator that created MSA & we submitted them to CMS. He would smoke pot & drink in his office with the door closed but it would get so foggy & leak into the other rooms.
We had one IT guy, three paralegals & an intern.
After he bought us, he went out and bought a firm that handled post settlement distribution. Essential, we had to write reports to submit showing how the money was being used. By law, it had to be submitted yearly to show CMS and Medicare that yes, these expenses are for his injury.
With that purchase, we controlled close to 8+million dollars.
Myself & another paralegal were semi trained in the reports. I say semi because he fired the entire staff of the other firm & gave the old manager 12 hours to train us....
As we started doing the reports, we noticed that there was money being moved out and by law you are required to show if money is taken in and out. We did the reports and gave them to our attorney to review. He flips out on us & tells us not to show the money distribution. I'm taking about millions being moved around.
At first, we thought it was weird but didn't want to argue with him. Then as we learn the job, we realized what he was doing. He started buying cars, expanding the firm to include automobile accidents cause WTH....
I would do the reports correctly & send then without his approval. He never noticed.
He stopped sending the clients their statement because they were so trusting but also old/injured.
One client called asking for his statement & our attorney lied & says the bank was not sending any out.
I quit. I couldn't do it.
I don't know how much money he stole, but he came from an old family of money so anything he spent, he eventually moved back in with his own money I'm sure.
I sent my reports with a hand written note to CMS /medicare asking for help to report him. I showed where he was moving money. I never heard back even after a few months of the submissions.
The firm is still around. I still talk to the IT guy but everyone quit after I left for other jobs. The firm will do nurse care working as well. They still do submission & still have the post settlement firm. The building looks deteriorated cause I drive past it sometimes.
I was really young, think college age & I didn't know you could report him for what he was doing. I didn't collect any evidence because we were afraid to get in trouble too. It still weighs heavily on me thinking about all those clients & I have so many regrets. It's been over ten years now.
I'm a paralegal for family law, super straight family owned firm that cares for it's clients & staff. I love it but I do still think back a lot on this.
Report
1point
#43
Bill extra to his wealthier clients and encourage us to do the same. He eventually left the firm as a founding partner after he wanted to fire all staff (paralegals, admin) during Covid because they couldn’t afford to keep us on. The other partners and attorneys decided to take pay cuts so that they could afford to keep us on 3/5 days. That made him upset enough that he left to go practice on his own even though he’s already in his 80s and should be retired. Not sure how he’s faring but 3 years later and he’s still running his solo practice. He’s incredibly greedy and owns 20+ properties in our town. I know this because he told me, and he’d have his tenants deliver rent checks to our law office! Not sure why he was so adamant on making infinite amounts of money unethically when he already has everything and more. It’s sad.
Report
1point
#44
Our local school district Executive Director/Compliance Officer/HR head/Public records officer/Title IX complaints officer/Harrassment, Bullying, and Intimidation officer joined a private facebook group for special education parents under a false name. She then friended a parent who was represented in complaints against the district. She would also attend special education meetings with parents as a “note taker” and not tell the parents she was a lawyer for the district. The Bar found that she didn’t actually quite violate any rules.
Report
1point
#45
A baby attorney (who knew better) unethically billed a client for the full hour instead of the thirty minutes. The client complained to a paralegal asking for a refund as they had a screenshot of the minutes spent speaking with the attorney. The attorney responded in writing to the client that they would no charge the next three correspondence with them instead of revising their time. The client refused and demanded to just be billed for the actual time spent that the attorney did. Just ugly, no integrity, and no accountability for the client’s retainer.
Report
1point