Atty James Beirne Faces over 200

Contempt of Court Charges; LA

Superior Court Judge to Decide his

Fate in late February 2012.

Submitted by PinoyWatchDog.com on January 6,

2012 – 11:38 pm

By Rene Villaroman with PWD Investigative Team http://www.pinoywatchdog.com/atty-james-beirne-scam/

Atty James Beirne Faces over 200

Contempt of Court Charges; LA Superior

Court Judge to Decide his Fate in late

February 2012

Submitted by PinoyWatchDog.com on January 6, 2012 – 11:38 pmBy Rene Villaroman with PWD Investigative Teamhttp://www.pinoywatchdog.com/atty-james-beirne-scam/

1/12/2012 1Atty. James Beirne SCAM!

1/12/2012 2Atty. James Beirne SCAM!

Glendale, CA – Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Soussan Bruguera

has issued an Order to Show Cause for Glendale Bankruptcy Attorney

James G. Beirne for being in contempt of court over 200 times after he

began an advertising push entitled “Setting the Record Straight” which

began coming out in the Weekend and Midweek editions of Balita

newspapers a month ago.

Atty Beirne is under a court order since the summer of 2011 to not have

any false, misleading, deceptive advertising or communications, or such

advertising that tends to confuse, deceive or mislead the public; or to

not guaranty any outcome on a legal matter, or to use a spokesperson

without disclosure of the spokesperson‟s title. The maximum sentence

for all these counts would be three (3) years in jail and about $200,000 in

fines, plus attorney fees. However, it would be expected that the

sentence would not be that harsh. The contempt trial process has been

ordered to commence on Monday, February 27, 2012.

1/12/2012 Atty. James Beirne SCAM! 3

The court order stemmed from a motion for a preliminary injunction

filed in June 2011 by Diosdado and Janet Duldulao, whose house in

Eagle Rock was foreclosed due to Atty Beirne‟s failure to file

bankruptcy petition for the couple, a service that the couple had

sought to receive from the attorney after paying him a substantial sum

of money. The Duldulaos had alleged in their suit that Atty Beirne had

committed fraud and malpractice, among a number of other charges.

But last month, reacting to an expose that PinoyWatchDog.com

unleashed in its November 26, 2011 issue, Balita Media began an

advertising campaign designed to deflect the force of

PinoyWatchDog.com‟s disclosures (Two Clients Tell Bad Experience

with Atty Beirne). Attorney Beirne had an open letter entitled “Setting

the Record Straight.” Among the over 200 allegations of contempt is

the statement that “the latest edition of [PinoyWatchDog.com]

mentioned a couple of people who were turned down by us over 10

years ago, because they were not qualified for the relief they sought.”

1/12/2012 Atty. James Beirne SCAM! 4

Since I wrote the story I know who the two clients having bad

experiences are. And PinoyWatchDog.com has obtained

documents showing that Attorney Beirne‟s statements about

these two clients are total deception. We have documents to prove

that this couple of people who were turned down by Beirne 10

years ago was in fact clients of the Law Office of James Beirne as

late as five years ago. The law office took their fees and failed to

deliver the services they were seeking. These “couple of people”

were Reynaldo Anson Villarica and the Pecaoco couple of

Burbank.

The Gertrudes and Rick Pecaoco bankruptcy petitions were

signed by Atty. Beirne in 2008, not over ten years ago, and

obviously she was not turned down because he was signing legal

documents on the case. Pecaoco came forward to

PinoyWatchDog.com because Beirne refused to provide a refund,

which is quite inconsistent with the protestation that they were not

qualified.

1/12/2012 Atty. James Beirne SCAM! 5

Rey Villarica, the other Beirne client in my story, had given

PinoyWatchDog.com a 2006 letter from James Beirne‟s office that

clearly showed work still in progress. Mr. Villarica also felt he was

entitled to a refund, and wonders now why his money was taken if he

was not qualified for the relief that was sought.

Another part of the letter advertisement claimed that for almost 20

years the majority of Filipinos in the Los Angeles area have been

familiar with the excellent work done by the Beirne Law Office.

PinoyWatchDog.com contends that Beirne‟s claim can not be true, as

only one attorney handles 800 files in his law office, so it is hard to

understand how the work can be excellent.

But it is equally hard to claim that over half of our kababayans know

of this man, and certainly half do not know of his excellent work. One

media observer told me “did half the people even know why Johnny

Cochran was famous before the O.J. trial? For that volume of people

to know of someone‟s work product is impossible unless they were a

president or mass murderer.”

1/12/2012 Atty. James Beirne SCAM! 6

Another area of contempt charges involve Beirne‟s claim that he is a

„charter‟ member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy

Attorneys. Guess what we found out? They do not even know what a

charter member means. But, we are not the ultimate arbiters of Balita

and Atty Beirne‟s “mockery of justice,” a phrase made fashionable by

Balita‟s own Executive Editor, Rhony Laigo. The flagrant violations of

an outstanding court order by the Law Office of Jame Beirne will be

decided when this law suit goes to trial in the end of Feburary 2012.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this story is Beirne‟s scathing

attack on Attorney Joel Bander that may very well end up in court.

Bander is representing the Duldulaos in this very case, and obtained

the court order that is now being contested as violated.

Beirne‟s letter contains the standard reckless Balita charges against

Bander. But since Beirne is now alleged to have violated a court order

for truthfulness, these long-made allegations might actually have

some airing in a court of law.

1/12/2012 Atty. James Beirne SCAM! 7

The attacks vary from Bander allegedly being obsessed to do

damage to Beirne, how Bander has a „hatred‟ for Beirne, and about

alleged defects in Bander‟s former law firm.

Bander told the court on Thursday, January 5, 2012 that he would

not be trial counsel as he would be a witness. Bander has told

PinoyWatchDog.com that Dennis Wilson of Burbank will be

handling the contempt trial. “Attorney Wilson is a great trial

lawyer. He lives in court. I am happy to have him on the team,”

Bander said.

Attorney Wilson was unavailable for comment, as he was in court.