Beware of Legal Services Scams, Officials Warn

Telling the public not to be hoodwinked on April Fools’ Day or any other day, local and state officials warned consumers Friday about fraudulent legal service providers.

Scam artists posing as notary publics, paralegals and lawyers offering document preparation and advice for a fee are “an epidemic in our county,” said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

Last year, the county Department of Consumer Affairs received about 130 complaints regarding paralegals posing as lawyers. But officials believe the crime is underreported because many of the victims are low-income immigrants who don’t complain to authorities.

Fraudulent legal practitioners don’t just waste consumer money and time but cause their victims to lose their homes, develop bad credit, get deported and even commit inadvertent bigamy, officials said.

In response, prosecutors, law enforcement officers and courts have been cracking down on fraudulent legal practitioners.

From September 2001 to July 2004, the state attorney general’s office filed 28 cases against “immigration consultant” fraud rings from San Diego to Sacramento, California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer said.

An Immigration Fraud Strike Force in Los Angeles has prosecuted 25 businesses in the last two years, said City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo.

The cases resulted in 23 convictions and netted $90,000 in fines.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert A. Schnider, who supervises family law court, said the legal system gets jammed when cases have botched filings or fraudulent paperwork.

The court and the Sheriff’s Department conduct sting operations to catch phony lawyers trolling courthouse hallways for clients.

The best guard against fraud is for consumers to be educated and protect themselves, officials say. “No one should respond to a solicitation for legal services,” Sheriff Lee Baca said.

He and others advised people who need legal help and can’t afford an attorney to go to a legal aid organization or a self-help law center.

Self-help centers are at courthouses in Van Nuys, Lancaster, Pomona and Inglewood.