Legal Research

Free MP3 of LAWPRO?s Special Webinar: Fraud-How You Can Avoid Being Its Next Victim

By Dan Pinnington

On May 26 LAWPRO put on a special webinar aimed at helping lawyers to avoid being the victims of fraud. It was hosted and broadcast by the Ontario Bar Association.

You can now listen to a free MP3 of this program, and follow along with the program PowerPoint.

Fraud is the new normal. It is a real and growing problem for Ontario law firms and lawyers. Prior to the May 24 holiday weekend, we saw an apparent organized fraud that targeted 19 different lawyers for a total amount of $5.4 million. We continue to get almost daily calls from lawyers that are finding themselves in the middle of handling a matter that is clearly, or appears to be, a fraud. And all too frequently we see situations where fraudsters successfully ?trick? lawyers and law firm staff, in practices large and small, into helping make a fraud happen. These claims have been costly for LAWPRO.

How can you protect yourself and your firm from being a victim? This webinar will help you become familiar with the common fraud schemes and scenarios, recognize the ?red flags? of a fraudulent deal, and show you the steps you can take to lessen the likelihood you will be a victim of fraud.

I moderated the program, and two of my fellow LAWPRO employees were the speakers: Rosanne Manson, Claims Counsel, and Lisa Weinstein, Director, National Underwriting Policy, TitlePLUS.

The topics covered in the webinar include the following:

• Why fraud is a concern
• Current fraud trends and claims numbers
• The common fraud schemes and scenarios
• The types of bad cheque fraud
• Commercial loan matters
• Collection matters
• The different types of real estate fraud
• Identity theft
• Power of attorney fraud
• Value fraud
• The role of title insurance
• Red flags for a problem client or transaction
• How to protect yourself and your clients
• Internal fraud: when trusted staff go bad
• What to do if you think you are about to be victimized

Listen to the MP3 of the program and follow along with the program PowerPoint.

Please also download and share with your staff LAWPRO?s new Fraud Fact Sheet for a more complete list of the specific red flags to look out for on the various types of fraudulent matters.

There are even more resources on fraud prevention on practicePRO?s fraud page (www.practicepro.ca/fraud).

Cross-posted on lawyersuccesstips.com

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on July 17, 2009 (boomark / email).