► Attorney Ronald Abrams of Philadelphia; ethical misfit Print E-mail
User Rating: / 2
PoorBest 

Attorney Ronald Abrams of Philadelphia; ethical misfit


The state of Pennsylvania presented Ronald B. Abrams with a law license in 1970.
 
The Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) found Ronald guilty of the following misconduct.
  1. Engaged in a pattern of dishonest conduct
  2. Commingled client funds with his personal funds
  3. Failed to promptly distribute client funds to clients
  4. Issued checks not supported by sufficient funds (rubber)
  5. Used client fiduciary funds for his own personal benefit
  6. Failed to maintain sufficient funds in client trust accounts to meet fiduciary requirements
  7. Engaged in conduct involving fraud, deceit, dishonesty or misrepresentation

Ronald was named executor of the estate of his father, Jacob Abrams. The assets of the estate included a trust of which Ronald was the Trustee. The income beneficiary of the trust was Ronald’s mot her, Regina Abrams, and the residual beneficiaries were his two sisters, Elaine Abrams and Janice Squares Weiner. The Abrams Trust was held by the Fidelity Investment Company.

 
Ronald also held a durable power of attorney jointly with his sister Elaine Abrams, for his mother, who was mentally incapacitated.
 
Over a three year period of time, Ronald withdrew funds from the Abrams Trust, as loans for his own benefit, without the knowledge or consent of the trust beneficiaries. In addition, on two occasions, Fidelity withdrew funds from the Trust and deposited those funds ($26,840 and $27,711) into Ronald’s personal account. Ronald deposited said funds that he converted from the Trust into his PNC attorney account and used the funds to pay outstanding obligations.
 
Ronald failed to pay timely, adequate, and regular interest on the withdrawn funds to the Trust. After receiving notice that he was being investigated by Disciplinary Counsel into his handling of a client’s funds, Ronald confessed to his sister Elaine that he had been taking money from the Trust.
 
Elaine stated that Ronald told her he was being investigated because of more than $100,000 he had withdrawn from the Trust. Ronald told Elaine that it would help him if she were satisfied so long as the funds were returned to the trust. Elaine said she need to this about it and asked to see everything Ronald had provided to the Bar investigators.
 
After Elaine reviewed the documents Ronald provided to the Bar investigators, she hired an attorney to pursue an accounting of and restitution to the Trust.
 
It takes a special kind of loser to rip off his sisters and mother at the expense of his father’s estate.
 
As a consequence of his misconduct, the enablers for Attorney Misfits sitting on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court punished Ronald by gifting him with a complimentary 18-month suspension of his law license.
 
As we speak (ca. November 2012) Ronald practices at 136 North Bread Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
 

Who's Online

We have 165 guests online

Donation Request

Your donations are needed to help defray the recurring costs for internet services, cable access, research via LexisNexis, media subscriptions, and the employment of a researcher and editor.

Donate Here

The Committee to Expose Dishonest and Incompetent Judges, Attorneys and Public Officials, Powered by Joomla!; Joomla templates by SG web hosting

website counter