PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

17
3/10/2012 1 Atty. James Beirne Contempt

description

Atty James Beirne Faces over 200 Contempt of Court Charges; LA Superior Court Judge to Decide his Fate in late February 2012

Transcript of PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

Page 1: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

3/10/2012 1Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 2: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

Submitted by PinoyWatchDog.comBy Rene Villaroman with PWD Investigative Team

3/10/2012 2Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 3: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

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.

3/10/2012 3Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 4: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

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.

3/10/2012 4Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 6: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

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.

3/10/2012 6Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 7: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

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.”

3/10/2012 7Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 8: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

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.

3/10/2012 8Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 9: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

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.

3/10/2012 9Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 11: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

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.

3/10/2012 11Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 12: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

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.”

3/10/2012 12Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 13: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

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.

3/10/2012 13Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 14: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

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.

3/10/2012 14Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 15: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

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.

3/10/2012 15Atty. James Beirne Contempt

Page 16: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

3/10/2012 Atty. James Beirne Contempt 16

Page 17: PinoyWatchDog.com | Asian Journal Cora Oriel

3/10/2012 17Atty. James Beirne Contempt