In re Friedberg; In re Stein, In re Goldstein

Attorneys from the same law firm were disbarred based on their federal guilty pleas to Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and False Statement on their 1997 Tax Return.

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These disciplinary matters are before the Court on the Review Panel’s Report and Recommendation that Stephen M. Friedberg, Donald J. Stein and Howard Warren Goldstein together, the “Respondents” be suspended for violating Standard 66 of Bar Rule 4-102 d. A special master was appointed and a show cause hearing held in which all Respondents participated. The special master subsequently issued his report in which he considered the circumstances aggravating and mitigating factors, as well as prior case law, before recommending a three-year suspension as the appropriate discipline for each of the Respondents. The State Bar requested a Review Panel review and filed exceptions to the special master’s recommendation in which it sought disbarment as the appropriate level of discipline in these cases. Respondents filed motions for acceptance of the special master’s recommendation, but on June 23, 2003, the Review Panel issued its report and recommendation agreeing with the State Bar that the Respondents should be disbarred for their violations of Standard 66. The facts show that Respondents are members of the same law firm and on October 20, 2000, they pled guilty in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and False Statement on 1997 Tax Return. Respondents have been State Bar members since 1973, 1975 and 1980, respectively. They failed to report their total income by distributing cash payments to themselves without reporting the payments as income; by not reporting as income amounts of “fee splitting” to non-lawyer individuals, i.e., runners; and by paying referral fees to runners for the referral of clients to the law firm. They engaged in this conduct from 1994 until 1999 and filed a joint tax return as partners for 1997 that they knew was untrue and incorrect.

In re Friedberg; In re Stein, In re Goldstein

Attorneys from the same law firm were disbarred based on their federal guilty pleas to Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and False Statement on their 1997 Tax Return.

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