Charges were quietly dropped against Las Vegas attorney Jill Hanlon, who had been accused of victimizing an elderly man when she was his attorney in 2005 and 2006. The charges were dismissed in August in open court at the request of Senior Deputy Attorney General David Rickert.
Until last week, the possibility existed new charges could be filed.
Hanlon had been charged in May with one count of elder exploitation and two counts of filing a false document. The complaint alleged she charged Richard Sage $16,800 for 10 hours work, or $1,680 an hour.
"That started the crumbling and cracking of this case," said her attorney George Kelesis.
She had a $1,400 a month retainer, but the state investigator lumped it all together like it was a bill for 10 hours of work over one month, not a retainer over 14 months, Kelesis said.
The case is still pending against Hanlon's former co-defendant, Jamal Eljwaidi. He is charged with six separate counts of elder exploitation and accused of defrauding Sage of more than $400,000 in a real estate investment. Hanlon represented Sage.
Eljwaidi's trial is set for April 26 before District Judge Ken Cory.
In newspapers, the headlines are always bigger when charges are filed than when they are dismissed. Hanlon deserves fairness when charges are dropped. So I'm making sure she gets it in this column.
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Exploitation Charged Against Attorney Quietly Dropped
3 comments:
It appears there was shennigans involved even with this mistake or there wouldn't have been an opportunity to refile charges.
Sounds like the district is just too embarrassed to pursue it.
Sounds like Jill Hanlon lucked out on a technicality.
New clients beware!
Who pays the state investigator?
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