Caregiver used legal documents to siphon $350K from elderly man’s assets, prosecutors say

Carmelita Pasamba met Marshall Davies, who was then 90 years old, in 2007, while working as a nursing assistant at an Illinois hospital at which he was a patient.

Now Pasamba, 62, is facing a criminal case for allegedly siphoning off over $350,000 of his assets. She is charged with felony financial exploitation of an elderly person, accused of using estate-planning documents to bilk Davies as she and other relatives provided him with 24-hour at-home care after he was released from the hospital, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Three months after she started working for Davies, Pasamba got a lawyer to help her employer draft a will, a trust document and a power of attorney that put her at the helm, the newspaper says, relying on information from Cook County prosecutors. She was a trustee and her husband was executor of the will. Family members of Pasamba were among the beneficiaries.

Prosecutors contend that Pasamba took money from Davies above and beyond fair compensation for her work, including a $50,000 bonus when she sold his condominium in Chicago’s fashionable Lincoln Park neighborhood for $189,000.

Soon after she began working for Davies, Pasamba began posting on her Facebook account about remodeling her home and showing up at work at the hospital with new electronic devices. Although coworkers gossiped about the expenditures, they didn’t alert authorities as mandated by state law, attorney James Burton of the public guardian’s office told the newspaper.

Attorney Alphonso Bascos, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, helped Davies execute power-of-attorney documents, the Tribune reports. He said Davies, who had previously been diagnosed with dementia, apparently unbeknownst to the lawyer at the time, seemed lucid and said yes when asked directly if he wanted Pasamba to hold his power of attorney.

Two years later, when he learned of the theft allegations, he was shocked and angry, said Bascos. “But everything I did was aboveboard,” he told the newspaper Friday, adding: “I followed the instructions of a client, nothing else.”

ABA helps lawyers thrive by being at the forefront of new practice areas

Photo of Laurel Bellows by Marc Hauser.

Serving the growing number of elders who need legal help. Guiding companies through complicated efforts to combat cybercrime. Practicing law that focuses on collaboration. These are among expanding fields of law that offer opportunities to new law school graduates, those looking to return to law and seasoned practitioners in search of a fresh start.

The job crisis facing our legal community is very real and very serious. The ABA is focused on ensuring that a high-quality legal education is available to law students, offering opportunities for young lawyers to advance their careers, and securing an environment for the practice of law that allows midcareer and senior lawyers to thrive.

Among the current challenges, there are exciting developments throughout the profession. The ABA is leading the way in many new areas of practice, including:

• Elder law. This specialty is growing as baby boomers age. It requires everything from an up-to-date knowledge of relevant federal and state legislation to the people skills necessary for navigating the struggles a family faces as a loved one ages.

The ABA’s Senior Lawyers Division recently teamed up with the Young Lawyers Division for an “Introduction to Elder Law” webinar. Elder-law practitioners recommend that young lawyers and law students focus initially on estate and trust law and join local bar association sections to find out how to navigate such issues as retirement and long-term care.

• Space law. As private space-exploration companies take over where government agencies left off, a new world of law is opening up. The Space Law Committee of the ABA’s Section of Science and Technology Law is shifting its focus to the evolving legal, business and technical challenges. And you can now pursue a Master of Laws degree in Air Space Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law. The first program of its kind offers a curriculum in U.S., international and comparative air and space law.

• Cyberlaw. Our government, our businesses and our citizens are under attack by cyberterrorists and hackers. There is a growing need for laws that deal with issues of economic and national security. The White House recently called for a fresh look at our nation’s cybersecurity laws to prepare a federal response to any future cyberattacks, offering opportunities for our profession.

• Dispute resolution. The expanding field of dispute resolution provides many lawyers with a way to be healers. Collaborative law agreements—where lawyers and clients agree that the goal is to do everything possible to keep cases out of court—are growing. Demand for mediation also is increasing. Interested lawyers can get on-the-job training by volunteering for court system programs that offer mediation as an alternative in cases from medical malpractice and probate to child protection and family matters. The ABA’s Section of Dispute Resolution is at the forefront of these issues.

• Going out on your own. Solo practitioners are finding ways to thrive despite our nation’s economic difficulties because they can be flexible and responsive—as long as they pay close attention to what people need.

The ABA’s Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division provides invaluable resources and support for lawyers going out on their own. For example, the division’s monthly teleconference and webinars offer discussions on everything from technology tips to successfully representing traffic and DUI clients.

Our legal world is changing, innovating and evolving in ways I never could have imagined when I became a lawyer. As I look around the ABA and our nation’s legal community, I am continually inspired that lawyers are armed with a passion for the law and all it represents.

The economic pressures we feel as we emerge from a recession are genuine and painful. However, we are lucky to have chosen a line of work that is so much more than a job. The ABA is here to help all lawyers—young and old, new and veteran—grow, prosper and serve.

Frugal senior can’t use mileage points for final trip home because she will then be ‘cargo’

Thinking ahead, a woman in her mid-90s has raised the question of whether the mileage points she has accumulated with a major airline can be used for her final flight to her home state, after her demise.

The answer, according to an airline spokesperson contacted by Dear Abby, is no. Because she will then be considered “cargo,” rather than a passenger, her mileage points idea won’t fly.

Author Harper Lee sues, says agent tricked her into signing over ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ royalties

At 87, the author of one of the most famous trial novels ever written has failing eyesight and hearing.

And in 2007 author Harper Lee was recovering from a stroke when she signed away her royalties from her 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, to her literary agent, Samuel Pinkus, report the Associated Press and Bloomberg.

Now Lee is suing Pinkus and others, contending in a federal complaint filed in Manhattan last week that she signed a document transferring her rights to a company controlled by Pinkus without understanding what she was doing. The suit seeks forfeiture of monies obtained by Pinkus, according to the news agencies.

“Pinkus knew that Harper Lee was an elderly woman with physical infirmities that made it difficult for her to read and see,” her lawyer, Gloria Phares, wrote in the suit. “Harper Lee had no idea she had assigned her copyright.”

And, legally, as Lee’s agent, Pinkus owed her a duty of loyalty that was incompatible with this “gross example of self-dealing,” the suit contends.

In addition to Pinkus and his wife, a lawyer who has represented Pinkus was also named as a defendant. They did not respond to requests for comment from Bloomberg last week.

To Kill a Mockingbird has sold 30 million copies.

See also:

ABA Journal: “Meeting Miss Nelle: Ala. Lawyer Has a Rare Encounter with the Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’”

ABAJournal.com: “50 Years Later, Harper Lee’s ‘Mockingbird’ Still a Cautionary Tale for Our Times, AG Holder Says”

ABAJournal.com: “Still Practicing at 100, ‘Miss Alice’ Talks of Harper Lee and Working in Their Dad’s Law Firm”

WWII vet reaches fundraising goal in effort to prevent his daughter from evicting him

John Potter and his granddaughter Jaclyn Fraley.
Photo from GoFundMe.

A World War II veteran who claimed breach of fiduciary duty by his daughter in a lawsuit is now trying to prevent her from evicting him with a fundraising appeal that reached its goal on Thursday.

John Potter, 91, lived in his Zaleski, Ohio, home for 56 years, report ABC News, Gawker, NBC4i.com and AOL Real Estate. According to a lawsuit he filed in 2011, he had given power of attorney to his daughter, who transferred the property to herself and her husband in 2004. An appeals court tossed the suit on statute of limitations grounds in a decision (PDF) last year, citing evidence that Potter was aware of the transfer in 2004. Now the daughter is seeking to evict Potter.

Potter transferred power of attorney to his granddaughter, Jaclyn Fraley, who launched the fundraising appeal on GoFundMe in hopes she could buy the property for Potter. She told AOL Real Estate that Potter’s daughter had filed the eviction papers after a dispute between them over visitation rights to Potter’s autistic son. Potter’s son-in-law had told NBC4i.com that Potter could remain in the home if he would “stop the lawsuits.”

In a post at GoFundMe on Thursday, Fraley said her goal of raising $125,000 to buy back Potter’s home had been reached. “Thank you all!” Fraley wrote. “Those words seem so shallow compared to what I feel. All of your hearts reaching out to him is such an amazing gift.”