Vegas attorney Noel Gage gets his law license back despite felony conviction

The Nevada Supreme Court hit the restart button for attorney Noel Gage, one of three men convicted after an investigation into doctors and lawyers in cahoots to drive up medical costs in personal injury cases.

Despite his felony conviction and despite a 3-2 recommendation from a disciplinary panel that Gage not be reinstated, in September the Supreme Court allowed Gage to practice law again.

Gage was targeted in a federal investigation that started large but ended small with only one attorney (Gage), one doctor (Mark Kabins) and one consultant (Howard Awand) successfully prosecuted.

The investigation became public in 2006 when doctors and lawyers all over Las Vegas were served with subpoenas. Dubbed "the medical mafia case," it was expected to evolve into a major federal case into conspiracy and fraud.

Instead, after three people were prosecuted, the case whimpered to a close in 2010.

Medical consultant Awand was the master manipulator, telling personal injury attorney Gage whom to sue and not to sue in at least one case.

Don't sue Dr. Kabins, he told Gage. So the attorney didn't. He sued the anesthesiologist instead, blaming that doctor for turning his client, Las Vegan Melodie Simon, into a paraplegic.

Awand was the only one who served prison time. Gage and Kabins received fines and probation and were ordered to pay restitution.

Awand has since opened a bed and breakfast. Kabins returned to his work as a spine surgeon.

When he pleaded in 2010, Gage entered an Alford plea, not admitting guilt but conceding the government could prove its case. By then, the charge was whittled down to a felony obstruction of justice charge because he failed to report the fraud committed by Awand and Kabins. He was placed on three years probation with 90 days of home confinement, fined $25,000 and ordered to pay Simon, the paraplegic patient he represented, more than $702,600.

Gage lost his law license, retroactively, for four years. A year ago he asked to be reinstated.

After his attorneys made their pitch to the State Bar's Southern Nevada Disciplinary Board, the vote was 3-2 against letting him practice again. Attorneys Jeffrey Sloane and Harvey Gruber and lay member Rob Valdez recommended against licensing Gage.

The three said Gage failed to meet his burden to show by clear and convincing evidence that he has the moral qualifications required for reinstatement. They said allowing him to return to work as an attorney would be "a detriment to the integrity and standing of the bar and to the administration of the bar.

Attorneys Paul "Luke" Puschnig and Sigal Chattah voted to let Gage work again in the legal field, saying he was contrite about his admitted errors and that safeguards could be instituted to protect against any future errors.

David Clark, then-State Bar Counsel, raised no objections to reinstatement.

Six Nevada Supreme Court justices then voted to let the 77-year-old Gage practice again. Justice Kris Pickering recused herself.

The justices said Gage has acknowledged the wrongfulness of his conduct and accepted responsibility.

"Clearly it was wrong, that was a terrible mistake that I paid dearly for," he had said during his hearing in September 2014. "To say the last four or five years was difficult would be an understatement. I regret what I did and I wish I could take it back. I can assure you that you'll never see me again and I'd like the opportunity that I have remaining on this earth to contribute something and to be able to sit with clients … even though I may not be going to court any more."

I can't see into Gage's heart, but he seems to have waited years before he expressed real remorse. He didn't express remorse when he agreed to an Alford plea. He wasn't remorseful in 2013 in a hearing before another panel deciding his suspension.

That separate disciplinary panel concluded Gage refused to acknowledge the wrongful nature of his conduct and used that as one of the reasons to stretch his suspension from three years to four, require a $25,000 fine and order a public reprimand instead of the private letter. Clark had agreed to the lesser punishment, with no fine.

Last year, with his law license on the line, Gage finally said he's sorry.

His team of attorneys, lead by Dennis Kennedy, wrote that Gage is ready to "move forward and restore his now-tarnished reputation in the Nevada legal community."

Gage and his wife Ivy have divorced and she said he is not working with her at the Gage Law Firm. She doesn't know where or if he is working.

Calls and emails asking for comment from Kennedy and Gage were not returned.

I'm sorry, but in plain English, the man took kickbacks so he wouldn't sue doctors who were working with Awand. He sold out his client. He made the right noises with his regrets, but they lack the sound of sincerity.

His reputation remains blackened from my perspective.

Would you want him as your lawyer?

—Jane Ann Morrison's column runs Thursdays. Leave messages for her at 702-383-0275 or email jmorrison@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @janeannmorrison