| ► Attorney Edward Berger of Tucson; lying loser |
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Attorney Edward Berger of Tucson; lying loser
The state of Arizona presented Edward B. Berger with a law license in 1959 after he graduated from New York University (NYU) Law School.
The Arizona State Bar found Edward guilty of the following misconduct.
Edward was hired by a Chicago resident who was charged with committing a federal felony, i.e., intentionally transporting three illegal aliens into the United States. Edward prepared a fee agreement that called for the payment of a non-refundable retainer of $20,000, which was to be applied against costs and fees incurred. In the event the non-refundable $20,000 retainer was insufficient to cover fees and costs, the client was to be billed on a monthly basis for a set hourly rate.
The client expressed a willingness to pay a bonus if Edward’s effort were successful; however, the comments were not in the form of an enforceable promise to pay any fixed amount of extra compensation
After a misdemeanor plea agreement was successfully negotiated, Edward instructed his associate to request a $30,000 payment for the client that was paid by check and deposited in Edward’s law firm trust account. The $30,000 payment was made prior to Edward confirming the existence of the plea agreement with the client.
Based on the advice of the client’s Chicago attorney that the payment of the $30,000 was excessive, the client stopped payment on the check. Edward was advised by the Chicago attorney to prepare and submit an itemized bill. Edward prepared a bill for services without itemizing the amount of hours and claimed total fees of $33,327.50. Edward then had another attorney send a letter to the client claiming the $33,327.50 were earned fees. Edward then filed a lawsuit against his client claiming the $33,327.50 in fees were earned and due and payable to him.
The trial court ruled that Edward absolutely knew that at least $10,000 of those fees charged were unearned and therefore Edward knowingly attempt to collect a fee in excess of the hourly fee which the client had legally contracted to pay. The court also ruled that the evidence established that Edward misrepresented (lied) to his client about the amount and value of his legal services and that he did so knowingly.
As a consequence of his misconduct, the cheerleaders of Attorney Misfits sitting on the Arizona Supreme Court punished Edward by gifting him with a complimentary 6-month suspension of his law license.
As we speak (ca. April 2013) Edward practices at 606 North Desert Sun Court in Tucson, Arizona.
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