Is your attorney on this list?
Is your attorney on the list of Southern Nevada attorneys who the State Bar of Nevada has filed formal complaints against, but have not yet decided? You asked me, I asked the State Bar and here’s the list for your perusal:
Jennifer Wensink
Randolph Anderson
Valner Johnson
George Hibbeler
Donn Prokopius
Geraldine Kirk-Hughes
Edmund Botha
Mark LoBello
Jeanne Winkler
John Ohrenschall
Steven Altig
Noel Gage
Douglas Clark
Alex Ghibaudo
Nikki Wilson
Travis Chandler
Dale Haley
Gene O’Brien
Shelley Lubritz
Ronald Serota
All these complaints were filed by the State Bar after preliminary investigations, but none of these lawyers has been disciplined since the complaints haven’t been resolved yet.
More than1,500 complaints against Nevada attorneys were filed by the public in 2009, but the State Bar only files a formal complaint after a preliminary investigation. Some cases are dismissed.
Then a panel acts as judge and jury to decide whether an attorney should be disciplined. “We screened 308 files, north and south,” said Assistant Bar Counsel Phil Pattee.
Once a formal complaint is filed, it becomes public. However, it’s not posted as a complaint on the bar’s Web site unless it is upheld.
Pattee said the list changes, but this is the most recent list.
If someone worries about their attorney, they can always call the State Bar of Nevada and ask if there are any complaints pending.
Sometimes there are multiple complaints against the same attorney. Pattee said there are about 10 initial complaints filed against bankruptcy attorney Randall Goldberg, who advertises heavily on television.
However, those are still being investigated by the bar, and since no bar complaint has been made, those claims involving how he practices bankruptcy law are not public at this time.
