Herb Jaffe: Lawyer’s alleged client theft would reach historic levels

Like other readers of the Review-Journal, when I awoke to that front-page banner headline in December, “Attorney vanishes; millions missing,” then read that Robert Graham had allegedly stolen from clients, I was appalled.

According to Nevada State Bar Association officials, and subsequently others in the office of Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson at the time of Graham’s indictment last month, the size of the alleged theft may be in excess of $15 million. And the number of clients who were allegedly stung by Graham before his license to practice law was suspended may be 100 or more.

The reason for saying “may be” in both instances is that all of the numbers are not yet in. Presumably, those closest to the matter are far from finished in their digging and counting.

So why should this be of concern in a column that generally addresses matters relating to Summerlin and its immediate environs?

The first reason is that Graham’s Lawyers West offices were at 10000 W. Charleston Blvd., in the heart of Summerlin.

The second is that I live in Summerlin, and in all the years I have written about lawyers, I have never heard of an attorney stealing anywhere near that amount of money from his or her lawyer trust account, which consists of client funds entrusted to the lawyer for various reasons.

Moreover, I have checked in every direction I can think of, such as Google and friends at the American Bar Association’s home office in Chicago. And unless it is shown otherwise, Graham would win — hands-down — as America’s all-time lawyer-thief.

The third reason is the Cassady Law Office, on the fringe of Summerlin at 10799 W. Twain Ave. Attorneys Jason and Brandi Cassady have been appointed by the Eighth Judicial District Court to assume control of Graham’s law practice and files, as a means of protecting clients’ interests.

The saddest thing is the number of alleged victims and the amounts of funds involved, in some cases well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Perhaps the next-saddest thing is the black eye that the entire legal profession is forced to suffer.

Certainly you’ve heard the lawyer jokes and the browbeating the legal profession often takes. Well, as a journalist who has similarly felt the brunt of verbal intimidation, let me come to the Bar’s defense with this statement: Thankfully, the number of lawyer thefts is insignificant compared with the number of practitioners.

The most recent annual report of the State Bar of Nevada, for 2015, shows that the Client Security Fund, which was established by the profession in 1970, “reviewed 25 claims for reimbursement involving 12 attorneys removed from practice.” The state bar’s Client Security Fund committee paid out $339,862.65 to these client claims. When you compare that number of 12 crooked lawyers with the 6,858 practitioners in the state in 2015, the result is an infinitesimal part of 1 percent.

The Client Security Fund is an accumulation resulting from an annual assessment by the State Bar against all attorneys who practice in the state. Because of the relatively small number of lawyers in Nevada, the size of the fund generally remains constant in the low six figures. For example, the 2015 annual report showed the fund with an income of $353,015. By rule, the maximum amount any individual victim can recover from the fund is $50,000, provided there are sufficient resources.

Unfortunately, the Client Security Fund wouldn’t go very far in helping Graham’s alleged victims.

Herb Jaffe was an op-ed columnist and investigative reporter for most of his 39 years at the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. His most recent novel, “Double Play,” is now available. Contact him at hjaffe@cox.net.