Court: Guardian can’t take new cases
The court has held hearings the past two months asking the lawyer, Paul S. Kormanik, to explain his billing practices. They were among the potential abuses exposed in a series of stories in The Dispatch that detailed a broken system for caring for people the court has deemed incompetent to care for themselves.
The court has found in several cases that Kormanik misused a taxpayer-supported fund that pays attorney guardians up to $420 annually to handle legal matters for indigent people.
“Of the 17 cases thus far reviewed, the court found cause for concern in 16 cases,” Judge Robert G. Montgomery wrote in a court order. “Based upon the large percentage of cases with irregularities causing concern ... the court will impose a moratorium on appointing attorney Kormanik as guardian on any further cases.”
Court officials also said they are investigating several other guardians, some of them also lawyers, but declined to name specific cases.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office and Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien are also investigating Kormanik’s billing practices and his use of Medicaid funds. That investigation is expected to take several months.
Kormanik did not respond to questions about the criminal investigation. As for the court hearings, he said the court is trying to enforce rules that it previously had not explained to him.
“I have not received a copy of the rules and understand that the rules are not written,” he said.
Montgomery’s decision also comes as the Ohio Supreme Court and state legislators are discussing new uniform standards to better protect the more than 65,000 Ohioans who are in guardianships. Three Ohio Republicans — state Sen. Shannon Jones of Springboro, state Rep. Dorothy Pelanda of Marysville and House Speaker William G. Batchelder of Medina — have called for hearings to spur changes.
A probate judge or magistrate has the authority to order the establishment of a guardianship. A guardian appointed by the court then takes control of decision-making for the person declared incompetent, also known as a ward. A guardian can request the relationship without ever meeting the ward or speaking with family members.
The Dispatch investigation “Unguarded,” online at Dispatch.com/unguarded, found that unscrupulous lawyers were billing legal fees for non-legal work. One, for example, billed a ward’s estate more than $1,000 to talk to her family by phone about planning her funeral.
That lawyer, Kevin A. Craine, also is under investigation by the Ohio Supreme Court’s disciplinary counsel, state and local authorities involved in Kormanik’s investigation told The Dispatch. The counsel is looking at possible ethics violations.
Audrey E. Varwig, an assistant disciplinary counsel, said she cannot comment on any reviews or confirm whether there is an investigation. Craine did not return calls seeking comment.
The probate court is not reviewing Craine’s cases.
The Dispatch also uncovered wrongdoing by family members who neglected loved ones and abused them. Much of the abuse was allowed to take place because neither guardians nor the probate court checked on the wards, in some cases for years.
A handful of lawyers are responsible for more than 1,000 of the county’s 4,000 adult wards. Kormanik has nearly 400 wards and remains in control of most of them.
Court officials said they will hold more hearings about his cases.
The court is reviewing how Kormanik is able to submit to the court thousands of dollars in legal fees for wards who are labeled indigent because they have less than $1,500 in assets, yet also pay himself from money belonging to his wards.
In many cases, Kormanik is guardian of the person only, meaning he can make medical and living decisions for a ward but has no control over finances.
The court has asked him in several instances to explain where he got the money and why he opened up bank accounts on behalf of a ward but never reported those accounts to the court.
Mike Shively’s uncle is in a guardianship under Kormanik. He is one of the 17 wards whose cases the court reviewed.
“My uncle has not been served adequately at all by Kormanik, and we’ve tried and tried to get explanations from him about my uncle’s finances,” Shively said. “We are trying to get Kormanik removed as guardian.”
Last week, the court rejected about 150 legal bills that Kormanik had submitted. He filed the bills in the event that an indigent ward comes into money and is able to pay.
Many of those bills charged questionable “legal fees” for such things as cleaning out a ward’s house, talking to a family member about the ward’s care or talking to the ward directly. The court had previously approved nearly all such bills without holding a hearing.
Montgomery told The Dispatch in April that the hearings are routinely waived because they would bog down the court.
lsullivan@dispatch.com
@DispatchSully
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