Regarding "Lawyer faces prison for alleged swindle" (Monday City & State), several things struck me as ironic. First was the revelation that attorney Houston attorney Gwendolyn Climmons-Johnson had previously been convicted for a scheme involving ambulances, only this time, it wasn't about her chasing them: they were literally part of the scam.
The next irony was the fact that the victim of her most recent scam was another lawyer, New Jersey financier Tim Foley. Foley had advanced Climmons-Johnson $400,000 in return for a much larger portion of the proceeds on two lawsuits that turned out to be mere figments of her imagination.
Then there was the irony of Foley portraying himself as a helpless victim not just of the defendant, but of the courts as well. The article quotes him as saying "the damage has been done, and I don’t expect there to be justice.....I really don’t think the company is going to survive.”
Turns out, Foley's contract terms with Climmons-Johnson had some questionable terms that would make him less a victim than he would have us believe. For instance, was she to default on her payout to Foley, Climmons-Johnson was on the hook for payments with a yearly interest rate of 117.5%. Naturally, Foley filed his lawsuit not in Texas, but in New Jersey, where such things are allowed: yet another irony.
It's tough to feel sorry for lawyers like Foley, particularly when they practice what is considered usury in most of the states of our union. To Mr. Foley, I would say: Sharks swim with sharks; Sharks occasionally eat other sharks; Don't expect the other "fish" to feel sorry for you.
Pete Smith
Houston, TX
No comments:
Post a Comment
Friends - Let 'er rip!