Michael Avenatti, Seriously? Ripping Off A Paraplegic, Mentally Ill, Client?

Sure and we don’t expect lawyers to be saints – that’s rather the point of them sometimes, to not be saints but to go and fight on our behalf. Yet there are still limits that we expect such people not to exceed. Like, well, sure, ripping off the clients a little bit with some bill padding, that happens. But again, there’s a use to moderation in all things and some do seem to overstep those bounds.

Worth noting here that this is all allegations so far:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Michael Avenatti indicted on 36 counts by California federal grand jury; accused of ripping off mentally ill paraplegic client[/perfectpullquote]

And didn’t Avenatti represent Stormy Daniels in that case against Trump? We can all think of places in the world where pissing off the President leads to some trumped up charges of something or other. I’ve even lived in a couple. And we could even think of people who have been legally pursued on political grounds in the US. Some of those Mueller convictions would never have happened unless there had been an attempt to get Trump himself.

But thinking that these are trumped up charges would be stretch, no? What a Federal grand jury comes up with is different, their being that independent cut out between political machinations and the legal system:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti was slammed Thursday with a 36-count indictment by a federal grand jury in California that accuses him of ripping off clients— including a mentally ill paraplegic — for millions of dollars, shorting the IRS of millions more, swiping millions from emploment taxes from employees of his coffee company and perjury.[/perfectpullquote]

It’s possible to politely note that there is a pattern of behaviour here.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] The new, 61-page indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleges that Avenatti for years hid and then completely spent a $4 million legal settlement obtained in January 2015 in favor of a mentally ill paraplegic client, and hid a $2.75 million settlement for another client that Aventatti allegedly used to help pay for the purchase of a private jet. Most of the money for the paraplegic client allegedly was funnelled to a company that managed Avenatti’s race-car team, and to his coffee company, Global Baristas, which operated the Tully’s chain. The indictment says that because Avenatti failed to respond to the U.S. Social Security Adminstration’s request for information about the paraplegic, that client had his Supplemental Security Income benefits discontinued in February. [/perfectpullquote]

No wonder Stormy Daniels fired him, eh? Which is an indictment in itself really, the lawyer not trusty worthy enough for a stripper.