Good lawyers do more than know the law. They also zealously represent their clients. For the record, it is very hard to do that when you are also stealing from them. An estates attorney was caught misappropriating funds from several clients over a period of years. From Providence Journal:
A disbarred Rhode Island attorney has been arrested by the state police, charged with unlawfully appropriating more than $400,000 in clients’ funds.
James F. McAleer, who was admitted to the Rhode Island Bar in 1968, was arrested by the state police financial crimes unit and charged with unlawful appropriation over $1,000, the state police said in a press release Tuesday.
Thankfully, no other clients will have to worry about McAleer dipping into their estates — he was disbarred by Rhode Island’s Supreme Court for the liberties he took with his clients’ money.
We at Above the Law would never condone any attorney unlawfully appropriating any of their clients’ funds, but you’ve got to give McAleer some credit for losing his livelihood over more than a paltry $5000. If you’re going to end up in the unemployment line, shoot for the stars.
Disbarred RI Attorney Charged With Unlawfully Appropriating More Than $400K Of Client Funds [Providence Journal]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.