Attorney accused by many

Ten complaints filed with the State Bar of Nevada accuse Las Vegas attorney Mitchell Posin of settling lawsuits without his clients' knowledge or claim portions of settlements have disappeared, according to records obtained by the Review-Journal.

The State Bar, a self-governing body responsible for investigating and punishing negligent attorneys, has yet to take disciplinary action against Posin, even though the first grievances were filed in mid-2005.

Posin, the son of the late Murray Posin, a judge and longtime Las Vegas attorney, continues to practice law.

David Clark, assistant State Bar counsel, acknowledged that 10 complaints against an attorney is "higher than usual" but added that the process to discipline an attorney takes time. The State Bar needs Supreme Court approval to obtain an emergency suspension. Clark said it must be proven that the attorney is "a substantial and immediate threat to the public."

"I'm not sure there is a workable mechanism where after a certain number of complaints you say, 'If you see this attorney, don't hire him,'" Clark said. "You can't condemn him in public without showing any proof of misconduct."

The State Bar scheduled a May 17 formal hearing during which Posin and his attorney, Frank Cremen, will have an opportunity to address the grievances.

Cremen said he advised Posin not to discuss the hearing or the complaints.

"I'm not at this point willing to talk about it either," Cremen said Thursday.

Posin is the cousin of prominent Las Vegas attorney Eric Posin, but the two have never practiced together. Eric Posin has never worked for Posin and Posin.

According to the grievances, Mitchell Posin accepted retainer fees but did not show up at court appearances or keep in contact with his clients. He referred to some cases he accepted as "weak" and others as "unwinnable."

One complaint details how Bruce and Debra Raines, truck drivers from Texas, were involved in an accident in Las Vegas in 1997. The couple hired Posin and Posin to represent them in a personal injury case.

Between 2000 and 2003, they had difficulty reaching Mitchell Posin to discuss the case. They finally received notice from him that their trial was slated for January 2004. They later learned that he did not appear at a 2002 hearing, and a judgment was entered against them. The defendants' motion to dismiss the case was successful because Posin did not show at the hearings. The case was over.

The Raineses have filed a lawsuit against Posin in District Court.

Attorney Richard Myers, who represents the Raineses, said he has known Posin for years. He could not explain what happened to the once- respected attorney.

"From what I can tell, something happened during a part of his life, and he wasn't taking care of business," Myers said Friday. "He was absolutely abjectly inattentive. For whatever reason, he was out of it."

The grievances are similar in nature, detailing allegations that Posin ignored his clients.

Anrique and Linda Barton hired Posin in 2005 to seal Anrique Barton's criminal record so he could secure a job in Washington, according to their complaint filed in March 2006. They paid the attorney $1,631. The records never were sealed, and Barton lost his job, according to the grievance.

The Bartons e-mailed or called Posin 200 times over the course of a year. Finally, Posin agreed to finalize the case or provide a refund. By mid-2006, neither had occurred.

"The Bartons did not ever hear back from him, nor did respondent (Posin) ever return their money," the complaint says.

Jorge Delgado paid Posin $1,575 to handle an immigration case during the summer of 2005. Delgado visited Posin's office in October 2005 in preparation for a hearing with an agent representing Immigration and Naturalization Services. Posin said his paralegal disappeared with Delgado's documents, including his passport. Posin also had no record of Delgado's payments.

Unable to hire another attorney without his documents, Delgado showed up at the hearing alone.

"He was told that his case was denied and he would be receiving a 30-day deportation notice," Delgado's November 2005 complaint says.

Michael and Cheryl Toffel hired Posin after the New Yorkers were injured in a traffic accident during a visit to Las Vegas in 2000.

According to their 2005 complaint, they grew concerned about their pending personal injury lawsuit when Posin stopped communicating with them. Finally, in 2004, the Toffels contacted their insurance adjuster and learned that their case had been settled a year earlier.

The Toffels were awarded $45,000 each. Posin never informed them of the settlement, according to the complaint, and the couple never received their money.

In another personal injury case, Mansour Yazdabadi complained in July 2006 that Posin never delivered his share of a settlement. After letters to Posin went unanswered, the State Bar subpoenaed the attorney's trust account.

Investigators discovered that in February 2005, two Fireman's Fund Insurance checks totaling $200,000 were made payable to Yazdabadi and Posin. After an audit of the trust account, investigators found that nearly $17,000 was missing.

"The trust account records fail to reflect the disposition of the remaining balance of approximately $16,801.89 received from the Fireman's Fund Insurance in the Yazdabadi matter," a State Bar document says.

Karla Cipriano-Gierer hired Posin to represent her after she was sexually assaulted in an elevator on the way to a doctor's appointment in 2003. She identified her attacker, who was arrested by Las Vegas police.

Cipriano-Gierer was referred to Posin, and she had seen his television commercials and billboards around town. "I was told he would be a good person to go to. Obviously, he wasn't," Cipriano-Gierer said Friday.

Posin never pursued litigation against the attacker, who Cipriano-Gierer said was wealthy. Instead, Posin settled with the medical facility for $2,500 without Cipriano-Gierer's permission. Posin cut his client a check for $900 and ordered her out of his office, she said.

Correspondence from the State Bar to Posin suggests that Posin has not responded promptly to the complaints filed against him.

Posin has indicated to the bar that his slow response was the result of a struggle between him and his father. Posin said the firm began to deteriorate in the late 1990s because of Murray Posin's mental health, according to a document Posin sent to the State Bar.

Murray Posin died last month after a lengthy battle with cancer and complications that arose from a broken ankle.