The Action Packed Expense Account

The Nevada Supreme Court imposed a suspension of five years and a day for misconduct described by the court majority

for approximately four years, Cohen sought and obtained reimbursement for expenses that he did not actually incur during the course of representing an insurance client. Specifically, Cohen repeatedly made false entries on expense forms, allowed his insurance client to be billed for and pay those false charges, and accepted the fraudulent reimbursement funds totaling $214,345 from his firm. By falsely representing to his client and his firm that he was owed the reimbursements, he engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation. We therefore conclude that clear and convincing evidence supports the panel’s findings that Cohen violated RPC 4.1 and RPC 8.4…

The hearing panel found four aggravating circumstances (dishonest or selfish motive, a pattern of misconduct, substantial experience in the practice of law, and illegal conduct) and five mitigating circumstances (absence of a prior disciplinary record, personal or emotional problems, full and free disclosure or cooperative attitude toward the proceeding, character or reputation, and interim rehabilitation), all of which are supported by the record. In light of the mitigating circumstances, we conclude that a suspension of five years and one day is appropriate and sufficient to serve the purpose of attorney discipline—to protect the public, the courts, and the legal profession.

Justices Hardesty and Stiglich dissented

We do not agree that suspension is an adequate discipline for Cohen’s violations. Over the course of five years, Cohen intentionally and repeatedly stole more than $200,000 by submitting false expense forms to his firm and billing his client for reimbursement of expenses he did not incur. Before this fraudulent scheme was discovered, partners at his law firm learned that he was padding his billable hours on flat-fee cases to make it appear that he had worked more hours than he actually had. Though this was a fireable offense, the partners allowed him to continue working at the firm after he expressed remorse and vowed never to deceive them again. Yet, despite this promise and second chance, Cohen continued to lie to his partners and to his client about his expenses and submit false requests for reimbursements for several more years. At the disciplinary hearing, Cohen minimized the seriousness of his conduct by stating that it did not hinder the administration of justice and neither the client nor the law firm suffered any loss, as the firm reimbursed the client and was itself insured for the amount stolen by Cohen. Cohen himself had not made any attempt to pay back the money he stole. Cohen also appeared to blame his overbilling and theft in part on his law firm’s culture and lack of oversight. Given the egregiousness of his misconduct, his violation of fiduciary duties owed to his firm and to his client, and the numerous aggravating factors, including a dishonest or selfish motive and a pattern of misconduct, we believe disbarment is necessary to protect the public and the legal profession. Even considering the mitigating circumstances, we cannot conclude that Cohen’s conduct warrants any discipline other than disbarment.

The case is Discipline of Nelson Cohen.  (Mike Frisch)