Attorney Graham transfers $955K home to wife as clients look to recover funds

Suspended probate lawyer Robert Graham turned over possession of a $955,000 home in Colorado to his wife just days after shutting down his Las Vegas law firm this month, property records show.

Lawyers fighting to recover Graham’s missing client funds on Wednesday criticized the transaction with his wife, Linda Graham.

“The timing of it is questionable,” said Las Vegas attorney Gerald Gordon, who filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against Graham’s Lawyers West firm last week on behalf of three former clients.

Joseph Kistler, another lawyer representing a former Graham client, described the deed transfer as a “very suspicious transaction.”

The State Bar of Nevada filed a complaint against Graham, alleging he stole millions of dollars from his clients before closing his firm Dec. 2.

On Wednesday, bankruptcy lawyer Samuel Schwartz, who is representing Graham, said in court that Graham is not fighting the bankruptcy petition.

A trustee will be appointed to take control of his assets.

The three former Graham clients identified in the bankruptcy petition — the estate of Michael B. Macknin, the Sharona Dagani trust and the Margueritte Owens revocable trust — contend Graham’s firm owes them a combined $1.9 million.

Kistler has been waging a separate fight in Clark County District Court to obtain the $1.1 million Graham had held for Macknin.

Dozens of former clients may end up joining the bankruptcy case to recover funds Graham held for them.

Las Vegas police and the FBI are conducting a joint criminal investigation into the disappearance of the client money.

The Grahams bought the 4,247-square-foot home together in Fort Collins, Colorado, in July 2014 for $955,000, records in that state show. But on Dec. 5, amid the missing money allegations, Graham filed a new deed making his wife the property’s sole owner.

Graham, a prominent figure in the probate legal community, operated his law practice under three separate entities, including Lawyers West. He also once maintained offices in Utah and Colorado.

Both Graham and his bankruptcy lawyer, Samuel Schwartz, did not return phone calls on Wednesday.

In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal last week, a shaken Graham described his law practice as a 20-year business failure.

But he declined to explain what had happened to the missing client money.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter