Legal News

More vexation on the horizon for "vexatious litigant"

By Richard Binder

As if things weren't hard enough for Mitchell W. Roth.

In January, U.S. District Judge Manuel Real of Los Angeles declared Roth a vexatious litigant and ordered him to refund fees to nine clients. Then Bar prosecutors shut down Roth's three firm offices, citing his hospitalization for severe depression. Roth filed his resignation from the Bar in May.  And now he faces a lawsuit from Jerry Brown for allegedly bilking desperate homeowners with troubled mortgages out of thousands of dollars.

Roth's attorney, Leonard Sharenow of Los Angeles, declined to discuss specific accusations in the lawsuit but said that his client's "role was simply an attorney for these individuals who were referred to him. He believes he acted properly and he intends to defend himself."

Brown's complaint claims that Roth charged at least 2,000 homeowners substantial fees in exchange for false promises that he would help them escape foreclosure and improve their credit.

Full story at The Recorder.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on July 08, 2009 (boomark / email).