News
"The vast majority of the (31,850) men and women out there
practicing law are honest people who worked hard to go to law school
and pass the bar exam and who wouldn't do anything to violate their
clients' trust," said Philip Thomas, administrator of the Attorney
Grievance Commission, which prosecutes lawyers who run afoul of the
law and court rules.
Many involve fee disputes. Some, like the case of Sheryl
Kwasniewski, are true horror stories. Kwasniewski, a 42-year-old
Detroit health care worker, won a $75,000 judgment against a
Roseville couple after she shattered an ankle when the front steps
to their house collapsed in 1988.
But she hasn't seen a dime, because the estate of the couple,
who had both died by spring of 1991, was drained by the lawyer who
oversaw it.
Attorney, Martin Pavlock of Troy, was found guilty of 12
counts of misconduct last year in connection with Kwasniewski's
case. He was order to pay back more than $120,000 he took from the
deceased couple's estate.
Pavlock twice sent Kwasniewski or her attorney a check for
the settlement; both checks bounced. For several years,
Pavlock kept the couple's death a secret from Kwasniewski, who had
provided home medical care to the aging couple.
"It still hurts when I walk and I've got huge medical and
legal bills. I've lost everything," said Kwasniewski, who was forced
to move from Harper Woods into a Detroit house that still bears the
scars of a firebombing last fall.
"I don't even have a phone, and that's pitiful," said the
single mother of two teen-agers. "I don't have a car and can't find
work, yet I can't get anything from social services because, on
paper at least, I got a $75,000 payment. "I live in a shack and
can't provide for my kids what they need anymore." Kwasniewski said
she's "bitter that the system didn't work." "If you're a
lawyer or a criminal, you'll make it," she said. "But if you're
straight, you won't."
Her current attorney, Steven Budaj, said he's still hopeful
he can collect $50,000 from the bonding company that insured Pavlock.
But he said the disbarred attorney has fled the area, making that
task more difficult.
Pavlock could not be located for comment on the case.
Copyright 1996, The Detroit News
Steven T. Budaj was able to
collect the $50,000 from the bonding company that insured Pavlock as
the personal representative of the estate. Also, Pavlock was
disbarred from the practice of law and charged criminally with
writing a bad check (with insufficient funds).
Todd McInturf / The Detroit News
Call NOW toll free at 1-86-66-COUNSEL.