Attorney Patricia Rivera of West Orange, NJ; serial cheater

The state of New Jersey presented Patricia Weston Rivera with a law license in 1979 after she graduated from the University of Wyoming School of Law.

The Office of Attorney Ethics found Patty guilty of the following misconduct.

• Charged excessive fees in 18 personal injury cases [cheater]
• Mismanaged her trust account records
• Engaged in negligent misappropriation [theft] of client trust funds
• Deducted from a decedent’s estate’s trust account part of her retainer for handling a related real estate matter
• Disbursed trust account funds for items not on the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act statement for a real estate sale
• Failed to reconcile trust accounts
• Debit or minus balances went unchecked
• Improper trust receipt and journal entries were made

As a direct consequence of her misconduct, the enablers for Attorney Misfits sitting on the New Jersey Supreme Court punished Patty by gifting her with a complimentary reprimand.

As we speak (ca. December 218), Patty practices at 20 Northfield Avenue in West Orange, New Jersey.