Lawyers on trial over alleged $100,000 theft

Editor’s note: The theft of the legitimate assets belonging to heirs is a major problem. In one Florida probate case, the Solo-Faskowitz clan claimed to be heirs of a Florida resident, Irving (Fisk) Faskowitz. An assistant Florida attorney general became suspicious of the claimants’ documentation and the State of Florida withheld half of the Irving Faskowitz estate from them. It was further revealed that Irving Faskowitz had two brothers, David and Harry. Neither David or Samuel or their heirs were ever contacted. Both brothers served in the U.S. Armed Forces during WWII. The State of Florida County Probate Court for whatever reason did not exercise due diligence and turned half of Irving’s estate over to total strangers with the same last name. Anybody having knowledge of the legitimate heirs should contact them and advise them that they have at least a million dollars being held by the State of Florida and another million held by converters. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

Editor's note: Anybody who knows of Harry or David Faskowitz or their heirs should contact them and advise them that there is a large amount of money to be recovered. This Shark has a complete file on the Estate of Irving (Fisk) Faskowitz. An interested party may wish to read link below: Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

http://www.flprobatelitigation.com/2006/04/articles/new-probate-cases/practice-procedure/unclaimed-property-when-in-doubt-who-gets-it/

Editor's note: The demand for copies of the Florida estate case, The Estate of Irving (Fisk) Faskowitz has overwhelmed this Shark's capacity to copy. Your ProbateShark will be scanning the complete file which will soon be available in the Shark Public Drop Box at no charge. Details to follow. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com








Lawyers on trial over alleged $100,000 theft
By Guillermo Contreras

Updated 10:50 p.m., Monday, October 8, 2012

 Sloan of Lufkin says Oscar Gonzalez and Eric Turton are both liable for the money, which came from a probate case in which she is an heir.



At a minimum, a lawsuit by Sloan says, Gonzalez was negligent because he failed to supervise the foreseeable actions of a problematic lawyer he shared client fees with.



“I was really traumatized by the whole ordeal,” Sloan said during a break in the jury trial before 408th District Judge Larry Noll.



Turton was disbarred in August over the matter by the Texas State Bar's disciplinary arm. The bar found, among other things, serious violations of rules barring the personal use of money obtained for a client's trust account.



It was the latest discipline doled out to Turton, who has a history of reprimands and suspensions that include misusing clients' money.



In the Sloan case, Gonzalez washes his hands of Turton, who rented office space from him for more than 20 years and shared half his earnings from clients that Gonzalez referred to him.



“She's not (Gonzalez's) client,” said Gonzalez's lawyer, Phil Watkins. “We believe Mr. Turton misled her, and he misled us.”



Turton, whose testimony was shown to jurors from a previous video recording of a deposition, later declined comment to a reporter.



Sloan's lawyer, Carl Kolb, said Gonzalez's own notes document that he met with Sloan, though Gonzalez does not recall the meeting and claims he'd never heard of Sloan until 2010, when she complained.



The lawsuit says Gonzalez referred Sloan's case immediately to Turton, though she was led to believe she had hired Gonzalez.



In his testimony, Turton said he shared half the fees he collected with Gonzalez, even if Turton did all the work. That, the lawsuit claims, is a clear violation of rules establishing pay comparable with the work performed.



“If you hire a law firm, you're entitled to believe it's going to back up the conduct of its lawyers,” Kolb said.



gcontreras@express-news.net







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