Lawyer facing disbarment for 'misusing' money for personal benefit [The Salem News, Beverly, Mass.]

Jan. 18—BEVERLY — A Beverly lawyer is facing disbarment for "misusing" an $8,000 insurance payment for his own personal benefit rather than for the medical expenses of his client, a 6-year-old girl who was struck by a car while crossing the street to her grandmother's house on her birthday.

The attorney, Edward Sargent, was disbarred by the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers in April, and the decision was upheld by a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court on Jan. 9.

On Wednesday, Sargent said he has appealed the decision to the full Supreme Judicial Court.

Sargent deposited an $8,000 insurance check into a trust account for client funds in 2019 and started withdrawing the entire amount in 17 separate cash transactions beginning the same day, according to the Board of Bar Overseers.

Sargent told his client's mother that he would "hold onto" the money until all the girl's medical bills were paid. But the board said Sargent "knew that the funds were to be paid to the providers and did not belong to him," and that he "made an intentional decision to not pay the providers."

In an interview on Wednesday, Sargent admitted that he took the $8,000 for his own use, saying he was "going through a lot of stress with my (elderly) parents, and no money was coming in." He said all the medical providers were paid in full and that he eventually decided to give the $8,000 to his client.

"There was $8,000 left and there was nothing to do with it, so I gave it back to my client," Sargent said. "My client was 6 years old and she was hit by a car."

But the Board of Bar Overseers said Sargent did not replace the $8,000 in the account until the day before he was required to produce his bank records to the Office of Bar Counsel, which had subpoenaed the records. Five days later, he issued an $8,000 check to his client's mother in what he said was an attempt to make restitution. But the board said the insurance money belonged to the medical providers, not to Sargent's client.

"Paying a client the fruits of a lawyer's misconduct is not mitigating where the money did not belong to the client," the board said.

In defending himself to the board, Sargent said he was under "financial and emotional distress." He said he was caring for his elderly parents, who lived in two separate assisted living facilities, and had to give up criminal defense work due to the time commitment.

Sargent testified that 2019 was a bad year financially for him, that he could not pay his bills, felt "overwhelmed," and at one point faced eviction. But the board said Sargent acknowledged that his financial picture improved greatly over the next three years.

"(W)hile we appreciate the financial and personal challenges and do not minimize them, we agree with the (hearing) committee that they were not so unusual or extreme to mitigate the respondent's misconduct," the board wrote.

The board also rejected Sargent's claim that he took the case for "altruistic" reasons, after two other lawyers had turned down the family. The board said Sargent did not take the case pro bono, and in fact was paid $6,166 based on his one-third contingent agreement with his client.

"Whatever benign intentions he may have had at the outset of the case were overshadowed by his theft of trust funds," the board said.

In deciding to disbar Sargent rather than issue a suspension, the board said it also took into consideration that he was an experienced lawyer with 15 years of practice, and that he had been previously disciplined by the board in 2014 for trust fund violations.

The incident involving Sargent's client took place on Dec. 10, 2018, in Lynn. The girl was struck by a motor vehicle while crossing the street to her grandmother's house on her birthday. The girl suffered substantial injuries and was flown by helicopter from Salem Hospital to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

The girl's family, which was insured under MassHealth, the state's public health insurer, incurred medical bills of about $91,000, the Board of Bar Overseers found. According to the girl's mother, at least two attorneys turned down the case, saying that video footage of the incident indicated that the driver was not at fault.

The $8,000 payment by the driver's auto insurer was made due to a state law that says an insurer must make personal injury protection benefits up to a maximum of $8,000 without regard to fault.

In a dissenting opinion, two members of the Board of Bar Overseers said they proposed Sargent receive an indefinite suspension, which was the recommendation of the board's hearing committee, rather than disbarment.

"The hearing committee noted the respondent's sincere remorse as well as his genuine interest in helping his client," the dissenting members said. "It also accepted that the respondent learned from his mistakes and hired a bookkeeper as a prophylactic measure."

In addition to the appeal, Sargent said he plans to file a lawsuit against the Board of Bar Overseers because, he said, one of the panel members failed to immediately disclose that he was a friend of the investigator who testified against Sargent.

Sargent called the decision to disbar him "way too harsh."

"I don't want you to get the feeling that I stole the money," he said. "I've never stolen anything in my life."

Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.

Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.

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