Lawyers Slapped Over Lawsuits

The State Bar is moving to disbar three Southern California lawyers accused of filing frivolous lawsuits to extract settlement money from thousands of small businesses.

Damian Trevor, Allan Hendrickson and Shane Han from the Beverly Hills-based Trevor Law Group have been suspended as disciplinary proceedings move forward, said State Bar spokeswoman Katherine Beitiks.

The trio is accused of abusing a decades-old consumer protection law to file mass lawsuits, then demand hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements.

The law — designed to help consumers fight unfair business practices such as false advertising and price-fixing — allows anyone to sue on behalf of the public, even if the plaintiff has suffered no damage.

At a legislative hearing in January, Hendrickson testified that the Trevor Law Group had filed between 2,000 and 5,000 suits on behalf of a one-man, for-profit organization called the California Watch Enforcement Corp., which state records show shares the same address as the law firm.

The New York Times reported that the lawyers allegedly found their targets in public records, including some on the Internet, which showed the business had violated some state regulation. Their law firm would then sue the business and send out a letter offering to withdraw the suit in exchange for a cash settlement.

Attorney Kevin Gerry, who is representing all three lawyers, did not return phone calls seeking comment Thursday.

"Many of these cases were not serving the public, but rather were attacking small businesses who had violations of the most minor type," State Bar Court Judge Richard A. Honn wrote in his 126-page ruling.

Beitiks said the State Bar would begin formal disbarment proceedings within the next two months.

Meanwhile, the state attorney general's office says it is moving forward with a criminal investigation into the legal practices of the three lawyers.

"We're looking for restitution for their victims and civil penalties," said spokesman Tom Dresslar. "Even if they're disbarred, we're not going away."

Attorney General Bill Lockyer is also continuing his investigation into at least four other law firms accused of abusing the Unfair Competition Law to extort cash from small businesses.