Legal News

Lawyer blows $2.7M settlement in stock market

By Jonathan Hayter

An Irvine lawyer on Monday withdrew as counsel from a class action in which he served as the lead plaintiffs' lawyer after he apparently admitted squandering nearly all of a $2.7 million settlement that was supposed to be dispersed among 800 members of the suit's class.

"I'm extremely, extremely disappointed in what occurred here," Sandeep Baweja of the Baweja Law Group told U.S. District Judge S. James Otero of the Central District of California, on Monday, "but my disappointment pales in comparison to the class."

Baweja, who could face criminal charges, admitted in court documents to placing $2.7 million in settlement funds into an Ameritrade brokerage account last spring.  He has notified the State Bar of California as well as federal and state law enforcement about what occurred and is in talks with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The original lawsuit, filed in May 2007, alleged that ZipRealty failed to reimburse business expenses and commissions to certain sales agents. Five months later, the parties agreed to settle the case for $3.55 million, which, after subtracting attorney fees and court costs, left approximately $2.7 million for class members.

Via dailyjournal.com.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on January 27, 2009 (boomark / email).