Taking The Bar Is For Suckers!

Question: How do you practice law in Clark County for over 10 years without being licensed?

Answer: Just make up a bar number.

Sounds too easy, but that is exactly what Charles Radosevich, Esq. did. According to the LV Sun, Chuck actually has a law degree and has the distinction of having been disbarred in both Colorado (in 1989) and Nebraska (in 1993). From the LV Sun:

He attracted the attention of the Nevada State Bar in 2000, when it got him to sign a court-approved agreement in which he promised not to handle divorces, bankruptcy petitions, immigration-related matters, personal injury cases or any other activity that could be viewed as practicing law.

So, he basically signed an agreement stating that he would not practice law without a license? That had to work, right? Wrong:

Authorities say Radosevich printed business cards and stationery referring to himself as an “attorney at law” specializing in “wills, trusts, estates” and “corporations.”

On legal documents, Radosevich sometimes listed below his name phony state bar identification numbers or numbers the bar had assigned to licensed lawyers. One of the numbers belonged to a deputy attorney general.

That's pretty brazen Chuck, but not as brazen as this:

Eventually, Radosevich set himself up in an office in the upscale Hughes Center, a haven for big-name law firms. Shortly thereafter he even boldly passed himself off as a lawyer in dealings with members of the district attorney’s office.

Those dealings were on behalf of Michelle Geris and her husband, who had hired Radosevich to help them negotiate with the district attorney’s bad check unit the payment of a $128,000 gambling debt that the couple incurred at Green Valley Ranch Station Casino in November 2006. The casino had asked the bad check unit to prosecute Geris.

After Chuck negotiated the debt down to $118, 000, Ms. Geris sent the money to Chuck to pay the DA. You can guess what happened next:

Geris thought her legal and financial obligations had been met, but on Aug. 29, more than two years later, she was arrested near her home in Glendale, Calif., on a warrant obtained by the bad check unit for failing to pay the entire gambling debt.

Surprise! The DA had no record of $59,000 in missing payments. So, why did it take the State Bar so long to catch up with this guy? They blame it on the paralegals:

Radosevich managed to stay outside the reach of the bar by working in the offices of licensed attorneys, Clark [counsel for the State Bar] said. Nevada, unlike some other states, requires no licensing of people who do paralegal work. When alleged misconduct occurs by people at a law office, the bar has authority to go after only the licensed lawyers in the firm, Clark said.

Chuck also once presented a pleading to a client with a district court "Filed" stamp and the forged signature of Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez in order to get the client's money.

On an interesting side note, Chuck is the brother-in-law of recently disbarred attorney Manuel Montelongo.

Check out the article, it's pretty amazing what Chuck was able to pull off by just assigning himself a bar number.

(LV Sun)

Local Attorney Disbarred (For Three Years)

In an attempt to show that our Rules of Professional Conduct do have consequences, the Supremes disbarred Las Vegas attorney Manuel Montelongo, who must wait three years before applying for reinstatement.

Montelongo reportedly misappropriated (read: stole) client funds and, according to the LVRJ, didn't put up much of a fight:

In the affidavit, Montelongo wrote, "I submit the instant affidavit consenting to disbarment with full knowledge that if the State Bar of Nevada prosecuted the complaints and grievances, I could not successfully defend against the charges."

His attorney, Gregory Knapp, declined to comment on the disbarment.

Good call going with an attorney on this one, Manny. You don't want to go into a disbarment proceeding pro se, especially if you suck. Enjoy your three-year "time out."

(LVRJ)