Attorney Ordered to Stand Trial : 3 Clients Contend They Were Swindled Out of $51,000

A Chatsworth personal injury lawyer, accused by the State Bar of embezzling at least $125,000 from dozens of clients, pressed an accident victim to sign a retainer agreement as the victim lay disabled with a brain concussion in a hospital bed, the former client testified in Van Nuys Municipal Court.

“I was sick in the hospital; I didn’t know what I was doing,” Patrick Boyd said at a preliminary hearing that concluded Thursday. “This gentleman came to see me and I signed some papers. I did not know what I was signing. I did not read it. I had a concussion.”

Judge Aviva K. Bobb ordered attorney Richard F. Murkey to stand trial on three felony counts of grand theft embezzlement and two felony counts of forgery for allegedly swindling Boyd and two other clients out of $51,000 in insurance settlements.

Murkey was also ordered to stand trial on two felony counts of practicing law after his temporary suspension from the State Bar of California in August. The State Bar is seeking Murkey’s permanent disbarment on grounds that he kept at least $125,000 in insurance money belonging to more than 29 clients and their doctors.

Both Boyd and former client Louis Patrick testified that insurance companies sent Boyd and Patrick’s money to Murkey, who kept it.

Murkey settled Patrick’s case for $20,000 for injuries sustained when Patrick fell at a Venice shop. Patrick, who had $170,000 in medical bills, said he never agreed to settle for less than his medical expenses and received no money.

Boyd said Murkey settled his case for $12,000, but “he never personally informed me that my case was settled. I never received a dime.”

Bank records indicate that Murkey, who filed for ankruptcy earlier this month, used the money for real estate investments, said Los Angeles Police Detective Richard Mulligan.

Murkey forged his clients’ signatures to deposit the checks, prosecutors said. But defense attorney Sherwin C. Edelberg contended that both Boyd and Patrick signed retainer agreements authorizing Murkey to sign any checks they received.

Earlier this year, State Bar officials declared that Murkey’s retainer agreement was unethical.

“If a client were to legitimately empower his attorney to have the power of signature to endorse drafts and checks, then this should be clearly brought home to the client,” State Bar referee Diane L. Karpman wrote. Murkey is “not a merchant engaging in cutthroat practices in the marketplace. He is an attorney and therefore owes a duty of explanation, protection and safekeeping.”

After the hearing, Bobb reduced Murkey’s bail from $500,000 to $150,000. Murkey, who has been in County Jail, will be arraigned in Van Nuys Superior Court on Oct. 12.