Post by bob quarteroni on Feb 24, 2012 11:04:42 GMT -5
Posted:Today
Updated: 1:10 AM
Double trouble: Attorney billing probed
By Terrie Morgan-Besecker tmorgan@timesleader.com
Law & Order Reporter | Terrie Morgan-Besecker on Facebook | @tlterriemorgan on Twitter
WILKES-BARRE – Lax oversight of a special Luzerne County legal services fund permitted an attorney who was paid more than $144,000 in 2011 to double bill the county dozens of times for travel to the courthouse, a Times Leader investigation revealed.
click image to enlargeStacks of bills attorney Angela Stevens submitted for representing parents in Children and Youth cases sit on a table in the Luzerne County Controller’s Office.
Amanda Hrycyna/ for Times Leader
click image to enlargeThe office of Pyrah and Stevens Law Firm on Pierce Street in Kingston.
Clark Van Orden/The Times Leader
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Times Leader Photo StoreThe billing practices employed by attorney Angela Stevens of Kingston played a significant role in causing the county fund, which was allotted $125,000, to overspend its budget by nearly $209,000 last year.
Hundreds of invoices reviewed by The Times Leader revealed Stevens repeatedly billed the county for dozens of trips she made to the county courthouse to deliver petitions for payment for legal fees, even though those petitions appear to have been delivered in a single trip.
The newspaper also uncovered discrepancies in bills relating to time Stevens claimed to have spent gathering information regarding the number of hours she spent on a case so that she could create the bills.
The issues with the invoices were never detected by county or court officials because neither the judge who signed the court orders approving the payments, Tina Polachek Gartley, nor two county offices that processed them, ever reviewed them for accuracy or reasonableness.
County officials were unaware of the double billings until a Times Leader reporter advised them of the results of a review of 469 invoices Stevens submitted in 2011.
In an interview Tuesday with The Times Leader and President Judge Thomas Burke, Polachek Gartley said she was distressed to learn of the newspaper’s findings. She said she would not have approved Stevens’ bills had she known about the irregularities.
Burke also expressed concern and said he intended to contact Interim Luzerne County Manager Tom Pribula to suggest he request a forensic audit of the account, based on The Times Leader’s findings.
“This is a serious concern that requires further inquiry on the part of appropriate county officials,” Burke said. “It is my suggestion (the county) undertake an independent forensic audit to confirm if any improper payments were made.”
In an email Thursday, Stevens said she had reviewed some of the records The Times Leader questioned and determined she had, in fact, made errors in the bills. She also sent a fax to Pribula advising him of the issue.
In her email, Stevens said travel time entries were included on each individual bill “as a matter of course” without knowing which petitions would be delivered in groups.
“When petitions were delivered in groups the final bills should have been adjusted to reflect a single charge for delivering all the petitions. Unfortunately, these adjustments were not made,” Stevens wrote. “My office will work with the county to rectify the error. We will also re-evaluate our internal billing procedures so that this error is not repeated in the future.”
Stevens’ law partner, James Pyrah, said he believes the billing errors were an oversight. He said the office has begun a comprehensive review of all its billings with the county.
“Based on everything I’ve seen, it appears as if certain routine entries like travel time and fees to prepare petitions got carried over across files,” Pyrah said. “We are going to undertake a comprehensive review of all these records . . . We want to get this right.”
Pool of 18 lawyers
Stevens, a member of the bar since November 2001, was among 18 attorneys the county retained last year to represent parents whose children had been taken by Children and Youth Services based on allegations of abuse or neglect.
The attorneys, who were paid $55 per hour, were required to file petitions each month detailing the work they performed, such as meeting with clients and attending hearings.
The newspaper’s investigation showed Stevens collected at least $38,517 in fees solely for work she performed in creating and delivering her fee petitions to Polachek Gartley and several county offices, including $7,293 in August and $8,860 in October.
Rules of legal ethics allow an attorney to charge for travel and time spent creating a bill, said attorney Sam Stretton of West Chester, an expert in legal ethics.
The issue for Stevens is she charged a separate fee for each individual bill she delivered, allowing her to collect as many as 38 separate fees for bills that appear to have been delivered on the same day.
Stretton said that would be an ethical violation. Attorneys can charge for travel time, but they cannot charge the full fee for the travel to multiple clients for a single trip, he said.
“If I’m going to visit a judge and it takes me 20 minutes to go to the courtroom for him to sign a petition and I have 50 petitions, I only get travel time for one petition, not the other 49,” Stretton said. “She should not be billing the same hour every time for every fee petition. That would be wrong.”
Stevens’ invoices show she did just that dozens of times.
For instance, on Aug. 17, 2011 Stevens sought payment of $33 for .60 hours (36 minutes) for time she spent traveling to the county courthouse from her office to deliver petitions for payment for June to Polachek Gartley.
Stevens listed that fee on each of 19 payment petitions she had filed on behalf of clients, resulting in a total payment of $627 ($33 x 19). That equated to pay for 11.4 hours of work.
Two days later, Stevens returned to the courthouse to pick up 31 fee petitions for work performed in February and June that had been approved by Polachek Gartley. She charged $22 for .40 hours (24 minutes) for travel time on each of the 31 invoices, resulting in a payment of $682.
Between Aug. 22 and 23, she charged an additional $2,420 in fees for trips she made to deliver 30 fee petitions to the Clerk of Courts and Prothonotary’s offices in the main courthouse, and to the Register of Wills and Public Defenders Office located at the Penn Place building. On Aug. 31, she charged another $2,937, which included delivery and preparation fees for 39 petitions.
A similar pattern of billing was repeated in numerous other months in 2011, including February, April, June, July, October, September, November and December.
Other charges
The newspaper also uncovered other questionable charges, including 11 separate invoices she submitted for travel time to the law office of attorney Andrew Lentowski in Wilkes-Barre to pick up the files of 11 clients on Oct. 27. Stevens charged $38.50 for .7 hours (42 minutes) for each of the 11 clients, netting a fee of $423.50.
Other questions revolve around the amount of time Stevens claimed to have spent gathering information so she could prepare her fee petitions.
For instance, Stevens claimed to have prepared 46 fee petitions on Oct. 31, each of which took one hour to prepare. That’s not possible given there are only 24 hours in a day. She made similar claims for bills prepared in July and March.
In her email response, Stevens said the work entailed in preparing the bills was actually performed on various days over a course of a month, not on a single day, as her invoices indicated.
Stevens said she made the decision to add a single charge for the work, typically on or near the last day of the month, for “bookkeeping purposes.”
“In hindsight I recognize that this practice can cause some confusion and we will reconsider incremental billing,” she said.
Got $144K in 2011
The Times Leader began investigating payments made to Stevens after a report obtained from the Controller’s Office showed she had been paid $144,554 in legal fees from the special legal services fund – nearly half of the total $334,117 that was spent on the fund in 2011.
At $55 per hour, that meant Stevens had to have worked an average of roughly 50 hours per week, every week for 52 weeks to have earned that much.
The payment to Stevens was also significantly higher than the 17 other attorneys who represented parents, which ranged from $176 paid to attorney Matthew Loftus to $52,362 paid to Laureen Yeager Pierce.
A reporter reviewed a sampling of billing statements submitted by the five attorneys who received the most money from the fund. No other attorneys appeared to have charged for travel time, although some did charge for creating fee petitions.
No one in the courts or county ever detected issues with Stevens’ invoices, even though the bills went through three sets of eyes.
All invoices submitted by the attorneys were first presented for approval to Polachek Gartley, who headed the county’s family court division in 2011.
Once the court order was signed, the order and invoices went to Chief Public Defender Al Flora Jr., who had agreed to hold the funds in his budget, even though no public defenders represented the parents.
Flora would sign a payment authorization form that, along with the court order and invoices, next went to Controller Walter Griffith, who issued the checks.
Polachek Gartley acknowledged she never reviewed invoices submitted by Stevens or any of the other attorneys. Flora and Griffith said they did not review them either because they believed that had already been done since there was a court order approving them.
Polachek Gartley said she did not review each of the petitions because the attorneys were taken at their word.
Each attorney was required to sign a document, known as a verification, under penalty of law attesting to the accuracy and reasonableness of their charges. They could be subject to charges of perjury if the information was not correct.
The judge said she believed the verification provided an adequate “safeguard” to ensure charges were accurate. Asked why neither she nor her staff performed even a cursory review of invoices to see if any “red flags” jumped out, Polachek Gartley said that was not feasible.
The petitions were among hundreds of motions and court orders that would be presented to her daily for her signature, she said, and there was not time to cross check one petition against another, as a reporter had done.
“You have to submit itemized bills and verify under penalty of perjury this is your sworn time,” Polachek Gartley said. “We made it clear. You are on your honor under penalty of law.”
County officials react
Pribula on Thursday denounced the court for its lack of oversight, saying it had the obligation to review the documents to ensure charges were appropriate.
“To trust attorneys to say their bills are 100 percent accurate is absurd. I don’t care if they are officers of the court,” Pribula said. “Someone from the court needed to attest to the accuracy of the bills.”
Griffith said he’s also upset the fund was not more closely scrutinized.
As controller, Griffith is known as an avid watchdog of county spending. He has frequently refused to issue payments if he questions the appropriateness of a bill.
In this case, he said he did not review the invoices because he believed that had already been done by the courts. Regardless, he was not in the position to determine the reasonableness of the charges.
“When the bills come over, I don’t know what an attorney is doing in court. My position is to make sure there is a payment authorization and court order,” Griffith said. “If there is an affidavit from two people, one who is a judge and one who is an attorney who did the work, who am I to question it?”
Flora also said he did not review the invoices because the money to pay the attorneys, while it was held in his account, was not his department’s money. He was simply the conduit through which the funds, which came from the county’s general fund, were disbursed.
“All they were doing was utilizing a line item in my budget simply as a pass through so the invoices could get paid,” Flora said. “The court reviews the invoices for the purpose of determining the reasonableness of the bill.”
Safeguards not utilized
Pribula and Griffith said they were also upset because they believed Burke and Polachek Gartley were trying to deflect criticism by pinning blame on county officials for failing to follow suggestions the court made when setting up the fund.
In the interview Tuesday, Polachek Gartley said she suggested to the county the attorneys hired be paid a set salary, but the county opted to go with an hourly rate instead.
There also was no contract established that set the parameters for what were permissible and non-permissible charges, and no cap was placed on the amount an attorney could charge.
Burke made note of Polachek Gartley’s recommendations in a memo he sent to Pribula on Wednesday seeking the forensic audit. Burke suggested the county revisit the court’s recommendation that the county engage lawyers on a fixed contract.
“Judge Gartley has argued strenuously in the past that this approach would optimize meeting the goal of cost containment,” Burke said.
Pribula said Thursday he was “livid” when he received the memo because that statement insinuates county management officials were somehow responsible for the issues with the fund.
“They are trying to push it back on the county. Why the hell did they let it get out of control like this?” Pribula said. “They want to be autonomous, but when something blows, they want to blame someone else.”
Told of Pribula’s comments, Burke said his intent was not to cast blame on county officials. He acknowledged there were issues with the court’s oversight of the fund.
“There was a protocol in place. The court relied primarily on the attorney verification attached to the fee petitions. In hindsight, it’s realized perhaps there could be a system with better controls to review submissions,” Burke said.
Burke said he believes issues with oversight arose partly due the tremendous workload the court, which was down three judges, carried in 2011.
He noted that in addition to handling family court matters, Polachek Gartley was also heavily involved in criminal court cases, including several homicide trials.
“You had an extraordinarily busy judge playing an administrative role in this area, coupled with a docket that was relentless in both family court and criminal court area,” Burke said. “Over the past two years, no judge in the history of this county has ever worked harder or taken on more responsibility.”
Regardless of who was at fault, Burke said the key issue now is to audit the fund to determine if improper payments were made and to address changes that need to be made.
“It’s evident that better controls should be in place regarding this process,” he said.
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LUZTAXPAYER Top 100 26 minutes ago
I think all bills from this program have to be looked at again since Judge Gartley admitted she didn't review them. How do we know the other ones aren't fraud also? Does this Stevens have any other county jobs? Terry Morgan look at that please.
Flag Like ReplyReply neverseemstoamazeme 30 minutes ago
No other judge has worked harder?
Give me a break!!! What are you, her father??? Shes a grown woman with great responsibility, which she has chosen!!! It ultimately comes down to her and lack of doing her job properly. She signed them and SHE should be held responsible!! If it were Lokuta, they would be filing a complaint!!!! Maybe someone should file a complaint!!!! If you did what was right judge burke, you wouldnt have been down three judges in 2011, only two !!!! Flag Like ReplyReply home.is.nepa Ming 50 minutes ago
I think almost everyone here makes very good points. We should all be upset at the negligence and lack of ownership for these mistakes. Out of curiosity though, how did the Times Leader learn of this and begin their investigation? I re-read the article and couldn't seem to figure out how these injustices were brought to attention.
As a side note, I can't believe you can actually charge to go from Kingston to the Wilkes-Barre courthouse. In my business, we track mileage on the car for tax time. I guess I either need to re-adjust my billing or become a lawyer!
Flag Like ReplyReply YAYA44 Top 50 1 hour ago
Until the problems were discovered...................ahhh things are nice. Problem discovered........................oops, my bad LOL Arrest !
Flag Like ReplyReply InDaKnow Top 50 1 hour ago
In her email response, Stevens said the work entailed in preparing the
bills was actually performed on various days over a course of a month,
not on a single day, as her invoices indicated." With this statement, now some government agency should do a forensic audit of her business books, if she spent all this time on these cases she surely had no tome for anything else....typical Luzerne County greed.
Flag Like ReplyReply YouShouldKnow 1 hour ago
Why is the "Black Robe Society" still allowed to police themselves? It has been proven time and again the entire legal society ( with some exceptions ) is either incompetent, crooked or oblivious to everything around them.They are incapable of making rational decisions yet stand before the public like Budda on a throne squandering taxpayer dollars and demanding more and more money to expand their bloated budget. Now Mr. & Mrs. taxpayer you can understand why the Judicial departments are always crying for more money to fatten the golden calf so they can partake and feast on the hard earned taxpayer dollars. If you look closely at Looser County you will note that technically most of the lawyers in the county conspired with the corrupt judges by violating their "Oaths of Office" since most lawyers in the legal circle knew or heard of the corruption taking place, and under penalty of criminal offense had a duty and legal obligation to step forward to disclose the fraud and corruption taking place. The question you must ask; why are they allowed to police themselves?
Flag Like ReplyReply caesar13 1 hour ago
Kudos to the newspaper for this. It's too bad we live in a world where the media must carefully watch supposedly college educated, supposedly common sense practicing lawyers and county employees. Perhaps the children represented should have submitted the bills, they obviously could have done a better job of it. Not only does this scream incompetence and laziness, it also suggests extreme unethical behavior on the part of those appointed to perform an important service on behalf of children and their parents. It's very hard to ere on the side of "Well, we just didn't know". SOMEONE should have. As with most situations in the county where those given important tasks by the county amount to no more than grifters, I seriously doubt that anyone would have blown a whistle of any kind had the newspaper not discovered it. Thank you.
Flag Like ReplyReply Nail Coalman 1 hour ago
Hooray. The Times-Leader is doing a great job!! However, this expose and investigation of abuse of charges is only the tip of the Iceberg!! Where was Urban during all these criminal shenanigans!! When is the Times-Leader going to investiage how much taxpayer money(thru the State) was used to develop his industrial park in Pittston Township and other developments?? Do not forget the federal and/or state tax credits and local property tax deferrals/benefits that accrued to him in the MILLIONS!!! LOts of smoke in alll his deals!! But he seems to be laying out "donations" from his foundation to worthy causes. So maybe the taxpayers are at least getting back a nickel
(5 cents) on the dollar for all the "help" he got from the taxpayers!! Lets see, achieves Millions for the state to pay for infrascuture improvements in the industrial park and other developments, tax credits, and no or very little property taxes for 300 Years!! So if all of the above, and increase in property value in received $100,000,000.00
($100 million) in Total benefits and value, at 5 cents on the Dollar the taxxpayers receive in Donations to the community from his "foundation" ( meaning more tax deductions for his businesses) MAYBE $500,000.00 which again allows enoromous tax benefits. THEN you have his or his politicians friend relatives act as adminstrators and everyone gets paid off. When will the FBI get into the details?? After the JUVIE scandal, isin't it obvious this has been going on for years including beneficial Zoning changes to advance the value of his projects?? The Times-Leader could get on this and and look up at least much of the wealth obtained by nefarious schemes!! AT least the before and after property assessments, the funds advance by the state, the low-interest enterprise loans etc., and the federal tax credits. Then build on it with freedom of information requests on all documents related to the scams!!! BEFORE THEY DESTROY THE EVIDENCE, IF IT IS ALREADY NOT GONE MISSING!! GOOD WORK TIMES-LEADER!!!
Flag Like ReplyReply Clintin Top 50 1 hour ago
When? When is the Penna. State Supreme Court going to come in and take over the dysfunctional Luzerne County Court system? They almost did in 2009 but decided to give Burke a chance. Well, he blew it, bigtime. So please Pa Supreme Court come in and take over this dysfunctional court system. If you don't it will only become worse. And just think what else we don't know about this dysfunctional system. I was going to suggest that this crime be investigated by DA Salavantis, but that would be a foolhardy suggestion. A waste of time.
Flag Like ReplyReply Hughy Lewis Top 50 1 hour ago
No doubt Judge Burke will put them all on "Double Secret Probation" for the rest of this fiscal year.
Flag Ralph_Edmunds and 5 more liked this Like ReplyReply Ed Top 100 1 hour ago
Greedy attorneys!!!!!!! Someone needs to file a complaint with the Pennsylvania Attorney disciplinary board
Flag LUZTAXPAYER and 6 more liked this Like ReplyReply larrydallas Top 10 51 minutes ago in reply to Ed
You know how to write don't you.? If you have an idea...do it
Flag Ralph_Edmunds liked this Like ReplyReply 94102 2 hours ago
He had to do something to get that money he put into envelopes for the appropriate politicains and officials...
Flag InDaKnow and 2 more liked this Like ReplyReply JustPlain Disgusted Top 10 2 hours ago
Hey, where's Hilary at these days?
? I miss her posts---very convoluted, but if you can get through them, they're amusing! Flag Ralph_Edmunds liked this Like ReplyReply larrydallas Top 10 50 minutes ago in reply to JustPlain Disgusted
Me too.
Flag Like ReplyReply the_woodrow Top 10 2 hours ago
But they swore under penalty of perjury that the documents were true and correct.
That should have been good enough. We know from recent experience, just ask Conahan, Ciavarella, Reilly, .......
Flag FrustratedAndFedUp and 14 more liked this Like ReplyReply larrydallas Top 10 46 minutes ago in reply to the_woodrow
It seems sworn documents are not taken seriously. In the recent past we had a W-B City official with a sworn statement and nothing has come of it either.
Flag 3Xtaxpayer and 2 more liked this Like ReplyReply skyblue Top 50 20 minutes ago in reply to larrydallas
With the banking foreclosure scandals (robo signing), attys that filed false paperwork to the courts on behalf of the banks that were foreclosing on homes illegally, neither the banks execs or the attys were ever fined, jailed or disbar. I'm not talking about homes that people were behind in payments, I'm talking about homes that were foreclosed on that either were not in arrears or had any lien against it. It seems no one is held accountable any longer. How can we trust anyone to do the right thing when driven by greed?
Flag Like ReplyReply disabledtaxpayry Top 50 2 hours ago
Lock her up untill all money's are payd back .
Flag Ralph_Edmunds and 6 more liked this Like ReplyReply 2good 2 hours ago
Bad habits form over many years. Then people work to perfect them. We still have many OLD habits when it comes to watching over OUR money. We need to start eliminating anyone caught stealing (and that is what it is) money from the public. I also think an OUTSIDE Accounting firm should always have oversight when public money is involved. If you don't have someone watching it is only a matter of time before the system is crooked. I want to go to a flat tax, then hire thousands of good accountants to work for the people to supervise spending of tax dollars.
Flag Ralph_Edmunds liked this Like ReplyReply fed_up_one Top 50 2 hours ago in reply to 2good
I am not sure I even trust outside accounting firms any longer. I think a citizen based Board of Review should be set up as a type of financial audit "Hit Squad". They should meet once a week a decide who's expenditures will be checked next. I can dream.........can't I?
Flag Ralph_Edmunds and 1 more liked this Like ReplyReply JustPlain Disgusted Top 10 2 hours ago
Wow, shame on you! This is what give honest hard-working attorneys a bad name....
Flag jmhg and 4 more liked this Like ReplyReply YAYA44 Top 50 1 hour ago in reply to JustPlain Disgusted
That's a confict in terminology
Flag Like ReplyReply redeyeflight 2 hours ago
How antiquated are the processes at the courthouse. "Hundreds of invoices" for the same services from 18 lawyers. OK since we are working with people who have no idea how to install check and balances lets start with the easy changes. All 18 lawyers will submit a MONTHLY summary invoice. The invoice will show the dates of service and the applicable travel time. Hundreds vs 18 invoices. Any lawyer that submits an invoice that has a questionable line item charge runs the risk of delaying the payment of the whole invoice. Check back tommorrow for step 2 on basic business management
Flag Ralph_Edmunds and 10 more liked this Like ReplyReply 94102 1 hour ago in reply to redeyeflight
But that would make it a lot more difficult to operate Luzerne county business as usual. Where are all of the politicains and officials going to get extra income from?
Flag Like ReplyReply MonaInPa Top 50 2 hours ago
THis is shameful. You have a judge, Gartley, who basically admits to signing stuff she doesn't read.....as well as Flora, who's been bitching he can't defend people but signs off on what is essentially fraud for this particular attorney and who knows who else. Gartley should be sanctioned, Stevens should be criminally charged and Flora should be fired. And that's just a start.
Flag AlllUsedUp and 21 more liked this Like ReplyReply neverseemstoamazeme 27 minutes ago in reply to MonaInPa
I agree !! But the sad part is, no one will do it. We should file complaints, its really not that hard.
Flag Like ReplyReply skyblue Top 50 41 minutes ago in reply to MonaInPa
Gartly started the process by signing a document w/out reading the invoice or knowing the information to be accurate, why should she get sanctioned while Flora who's only responsibilty is to process the APPROVED invoice and you think he should get fired? That doesn't make any sense. If Gartly never would have signed off on the invoice, Flora couldn't pay it.
Flag Like ReplyReply jmhg Top 100 2 hours ago
Once or twice, maybe an oversight but this is ridiculous! If our leaders are not going to act, go Times Leader! Keep hunting, Terrie Morgan Besecker!
Flag larrydallas and 11 more liked this Like ReplyReply arwalt 2 hours ago
She knew exactly what she was doing could this be called fraud?
Flag jmhg and 8 more liked this Like ReplyReply larrydallas Top 10 2 hours ago
Look for lumps in the rugs at the Court House, this will be swept under one of them.
Flag InDaKnow and 11 more liked this Like ReplyReply LH1 Top 100 2 hours ago
GREAT, great job reporting this issue! I could say so much but everyone else is doing such a good job that I will ask only one question. Does the fund that is the focus of this investigative report get any of it's money from federal sources?
Flag 3Xtaxpayer and 6 more liked this Like ReplyReply Crook_Hater Top 10 2 hours ago
Why does this NOT surprise me?
Flag InDaKnow and 1 more liked this Like ReplyReply PatriotMom Top 100 3 hours ago
Lawyers/Politicians.....no difference......all corrupt!
Flag InDaKnow and 12 more liked this Like ReplyReply JustPlain Disgusted Top 10 2 hours ago in reply to PatriotMom
Just not true...
Flag Like ReplyReply AlllUsedUp 3 hours ago
So, Ms. Stevens, there was a "billing oversight" that you didn't noticed when the bills were submitted. How about when the checks came rolling in? Didn't you realize then that there was an overpayment? If I suddenly started get checks for 2 or 3X's my normal income I think I would notice. Please do not try to "work with the county to rectify the error". We don't need or want any more of your help. If you did indeed sign the "verification" than you need to step up and serve your "penalty under the law". Oh, and don't forget to return the unspent cash!
As for all the county officials who missed this "oversight"...Can one of you please close the barn door now?
Flag Ralph_Edmunds and 11 more liked this Like ReplyReply kasyyy 3 hours ago
WOW! Why is everyone so surprised? This is just par for the course. $144,000 would go a long way in paying the salary of a few of the "commoners". I am sick to death of all this theft - and theft it is - call it what it is. Quit with the fancy names for stealing out of the pockets of the taxpayers. Yeah, it was an oversight! How is this any different from the person who was charged with the recent motorworld case? I can't see any difference, yet this will not be prosecuted as such. Wait and see............
Flag 3Xtaxpayer and 6 more liked this Like ReplyReply larry321 3 hours ago
Imagine that lol what a joke how embarrassing. Luzerne county doesn't deserve a courthouse this crap makes my blood boil and it should to every other person that reads this. Seriously let surrounding counties take the burden change the courthouse to high end hotel. This is as bad as the wild old west with the cronies sheriff .If the bozos of this county want to run it like Dodge City its lets give them a taste of there own medicine bar arms people take to the streets and take whatever you want how dare they question us if I want to make a hit on bank I want money and I don't want to use my own. Its nothing more than smoke mirrors people lets give them some smoking guns and take no prisoners'.They disgrace us all.We have men dying daily to protect the homeland for what for this. This bull has got to go and I me go
Flag LUZTAXPAYER and 2 more liked this Like ReplyReply Hughy Lewis Top 50 3 hours ago
Got $144,000 in 2011? What about 2010, 2009, 2008...
Flag larrydallas and 16 more liked this Like ReplyReply johduk Top 100 2 hours ago in reply to Hughy Lewis
What about the past Public Defended head that paid himself $25,000 in overtime that he was not entitled to, returned the money and retired.
Flag InDaKnow and 3 more liked this Like ReplyReply Hughy Lewis Top 50 1 hour ago in reply to johduk
A pregnant women will do more time in jail for taking a lot less. Non sequitur.
Flag Ralph_Edmunds and 1 more liked this Like ReplyReply blackgsd 3 hours ago
Everytime I read an article about the courthouse, I hear the music to the Benny Hill show in my head!
Flag Ralph_Edmunds and 12 more liked this Like ReplyReply Hughy Lewis Top 50 34 minutes ago in reply to blackgsd
www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Attached files
Flag Like ReplyReply Aggie95 Top 10 2 hours ago in reply to blackgsd
I think this one is much better
www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Attached files
Flag Hughy Lewis and 2 more liked this Like ReplyReply Chas 3 hours ago
Chicago pols come to Lu$erne County for training in graft and corruption.
Flag larrydallas and 7 more liked this Like ReplyReply 94102 1 hour ago in reply to Chas
I remember for years and years people in the know saying we are just a smaller version of Chicago. If you never went anywhere else you would actually think it is normal.
Flag Like ReplyReply lkgarden 3 hours ago
Do you realize how many more new jobs this will create for the court,at least three new positions will be created for official review of travel- expense documents filed with the court. The judges are over worked with cases to spend time on checking facts in documents.
Flag amazedinkingston and 1 more liked this Like ReplyReply Jolly Roger Top 50 3 hours ago
Griffith said. “If there is an affidavit from two people, one who is a judge and one who is an attorney who did the work, who am I to question it?” Walter must be kidding. It is his job to check on all bills regardless of who signed or submitted them. Talk about a cop out.Griffith said. “If there is an affidavit from two people, one who is a judge and one who is an attorney who did the work, who am I to question it?” Walter must be kidding. It is his job to check on all bills regardless of who signed or submitted them. Talk about a cop out.
Why wasn't there a word about reimbursement? When will the 55 hours per week for 52 weeks be investigated? Does this mean the attorney had no other clients all year long?
The attorney submitted these bill under penalty of purjery so where is our new DA on this and has she been called in to investigate. There was too much of this to be an accident, it was a general practice to over bill.
The fund was over spent by triple the fund? Give me a break, what was Gartley thinking .... or I should say not thinking. She was one of the reformers proving once again that the worst offenders are often times the self appointed reformers. I recall when she was a candidate, she always had a group of women around her and seems to me that Stevens was one of them, so is this payback or simply a license to steal?
Why is it that when an attorney overbillls it is an accident but when vendors do it is is fraud? I see one culprit and two incompetents, Stevens is the culprit and Gartely and Griffith are the incompetents. Flora played no part in this because he was simply a repository for funds with no administrative responsibility. I'm really upset that Gartley allowed this specail fund to be overspent by triple. It really does look like everyone who went through the door was entitled to this free legal coverage....... this needs to stop.
How about this new language they use to make their fiscal rape palatable, they now refer to a billing statement as a "fee petition". WOW!
Why wasn't there a word about reimbursement? When will the 55 hours per week for 52 weeks be investigated? Does this mean the attorney had no other clients all year long? The attorney submitted these bill under penalty of purjery so where is our new DA on this and has she been called in to investigate. There was too much of this to be an accident, it was a general practice to over bill. The fund was over spent by triple the fund? Give me a break, what was Gartley thinking .... or I should say not thinking. She was one of the reformers proving once again that the worst offenders are often times the self appointed reformers. I recall when she was a candidate, she always had a group of women around her and seems to me that Stevens was one of them, so is this payback or simply a license to steal? Why is it that when an attorney overbillls it is an accident but when vendors do it is is fraud? I see one culprit and two incompetents, Stevens is the culprit and Gartely and Griffith are the incompetents. Flora played no part in this because he was simply a repository for funds with no administrative responsibility. I'm really upset that Gartley allowed this specail fund to be overspent by triple. It really does look like everyone who went through the door was entitled to this free legal coverage....... this needs to stop.How about this new language they use to make their fiscal rape palatable, they now refer to a billing statement as a "fee petition". WOW!
Flag Ralph_Edmunds and 6 more liked this Like ReplyReply LUZTAXPAYER Top 100 23 minutes ago in reply to Jolly Roger
DA investgate!
Flag Like ReplyReply InDaKnow Top 50 48 minutes ago in reply to Jolly Roger
Jolly Roger, you should walk the plank matey!!! (A) How was Griffith to have oversight of the billing when the paperwork was just passed from Attorney to Judge to Controller for payment? (B) The Attorney frauded the court, the Judge frauded the county, they both attested to the truth and accuracy of the bills. (C) I would suspect it was Griffith who raised the red flag on this issue anyway. Do you really think a reporter just happened to go to the courthouse and said "hey, let me see all the bills submitted for atty. fees for the "Kids for Cash" legal fund? I suspect you are a frustrated politician who got caught by Walter...hope you can swim mate.
Flag Like ReplyReply LUZTAXPAYER Top 100 1 hour ago in reply to Jolly Roger
Look at the box scores at the end of the article. Our new DA Salavantis was one of these lawyers who had one of these cushy connected jobs. She'll never investigate her cronies. It may shine a light on her. So much for a fresh face.
Flag Like ReplyReply Aggie95 Top 10 2 hours ago in reply to Jolly Roger
the problem with Luzerne county corruption is its alot like the hydra ...you wack one head off 2 more grow back and in time you can't keep track of all the heads
Flag jmhg and 13 more liked this Like ReplyReply Ralph_Edmunds Top 10 45 minutes ago in reply to Aggie95
Well put, Aggie! Nice analogy. Simply brilliant.
Flag Like ReplyReply Mr. Furious Top 100 3 hours ago
The "oversight" argument simply doesn't hold water with me. If one isn't competent enough to get one of the most basic parts of one's job right, it does not speak well for their competence to perform the more advanced aspects of that job. That doesn't just hold true for professionals like attorneys and doctors - I'm similarly unimpressed when a professional athlete tests positive for a banned substance and tries to explain that he just took something from GNC and didn't know what was in it. Not good enough.
Then again, I'm sure that this sort of thing is de rigueur there. "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." Line from Star Wars or apt description of the Luzerne County Courthouse? Both, in my estimation.
On a side note, $55/hr is a heck of a low billing rate. It's kind of sad that she doesn't even appear to be worth that.
Flag InDaKnow and 11 more liked this Like ReplyReply loosercounty 3 hours ago
seems there's a lot of money to be made from poverty and off the backs of others misfortunes.
Flag amazedinkingston and 5 more liked this Like ReplyReply relativelyinane Top 100 4 hours ago
Three people were tasked with reviewing the charges. Not one of those people questioned the fees, even though they were significantly higher than other bills of a similar nature. What's worse is that everyone is playing "pass the buck", from Stevens to Gartley.
This type of negligent and irresponsible attitude/behavior is what has been the County's downfall for years. It was the same excuse used when some juveniles, accused of very minor infractions, were processed through the system without legal counsel and ended up in detention centers. It is the same excuse given when the County's community development office bedded down with CitiVest in the $6M Sterling acquisition. It's the same excuse used when conditions in the County prison were brought to light after Hugo Selenski's attempted escape.
The negligence and lack of oversight is a systemic failure which has resulted in the violation of basic trust.
Thanks, Ms Morgan-Besecker, for the excellent investigative reporting.
Flag Hughy Lewis and 16 more liked this Like ReplyReply ValleyParent Top 100 4 hours ago
These are highly educated professionals who claim accidental oversights and poor bookkeeping practices for these trumped up bills.
The naivety is downright insulting.
Now someone must be forced to create yet another form so these highly educated professionals can list line by line how many documents they are turning in at one time and the travel time it took to get there to do so.
For quick reference and billing practices that should take about .25 (15 minutes of billable time) to create.
Flag Ralph_Edmunds and 11 more liked this Like ReplyReply larrydallas Top 10 4 hours ago
BEAUTIFUL ! A bunch of lawyers (and Judges) caught in wrong-doing, and NONE are to blame. Even Stevens and her partner, don't accept blame, says "it was an oversight" ....a $144,000. oversight. ..Is that what they teach in Law School, how to make oversights.?
Flag cato11 and 18 more liked this Like ReplyReply 94102 1 hour ago in reply to larrydallas
It does seem to be a requirement for being a part pf the Luzerne county judiciary...
Flag Like ReplyReply Ken 3 hours ago in reply to larrydallas
It's not that they teach how to make oversights in Law School, They teach that in order to succeed, you must be able to make the unbelievable look believable. I think they teach this in the School of creative accounting too!
Flag Like ReplyReply Hughy Lewis Top 50 4 hours ago
More, More, More! Mandatory ethics re-training. Raise Property Taxes again... It's only money. More More More!
Flag Crook_Hater and 6 more liked this Like ReplyReply Disgusted_Taxpayer Top 50 4 hours ago
"Polachek Gartley said she did not review each of the petitions because the attorneys were taken at their word." Conahan, Ciavarella, Toole, Powell, Cardoni and Cordaro were all Attorneys and taken at their word. The Court is always stating the County must do what the State mandates so this should call for a State investigation. Pigs get butchered, hogs get slaughtered.
Flag FrustratedAndFedUp and 19 more liked this Like ReplyReply BOKinLarksville Top 50 4 hours ago
Wow.. In a day of email, faxes...etc, doesn't it seem STUPID &WASTEFUL.., to pay a lawyer making lots of money to deliver petitions to the courthouse? I know these Lawyers like to pretend they are big city lawyers starring on "Law and Order", when in reality this is Mayberry RFD filled with druggies.. These outdated practices, if they are the norm, need to be brought at least into the 20th century.. Yes, I know it's the 21st Century.. If this person who calls herself a lawyer knowingly defrauded the county, I feel her contra bonos mores
actions should be prohibited from practicing in Luzerne County!!.. If I were a store owner, and you stiffed me, I would refuse to do any further business with you.. being that it's Luzerne County, I feel this person will be elected to something and given a raise...We don't need people in our communities that take without giving!!!
Flag larry321 and 10 more liked this Like ReplyReply JustPlain Disgusted Top 10 2 hours ago in reply to BOKinLarksville
They are starting e-filing in the county... There was a class on it held by the Prothonotary a couple of weeks ago....there are still lots of glitches, tho....
Flag Ralph_Edmunds liked this Like ReplyReply drunknuncle Top 50 4 hours ago
" I'M TELLEIN YOUSE GUYS... timesleader.com INVESTIGATORS ROCK." ;-D...
Flag Hughy Lewis and 4 more liked this Like ReplyReply johduk Top 100 5 hours ago
Since kids-for-cash it has been proven that generally court house lawyers are dishonest The question is will the head court house lawyer Burke charge Stevens with perjury or just push this under the rug as past practice. The court house continues to be the county joke. Excellent job Times Leader somebody must keep an eye on these people.
Flag lkgarden and 16 more liked this Like ReplyReply skyblue Top 50 1 hour ago in reply to johduk
To lump all of our county lawyers into one dishonest bunch is not right. I agree this atty should be punished, however, in every area of life you'll have good & bad people. People who we should be able to trust, clergy, police, doctors, teachers, etc, and from time to time, we find are not honest good people.
To lump the bad w/ the good is not fair or the American way. I would think if you should find yourself in some legal trouble, you would hope to find a terrific lawyer to plead your case.
BTW, I'm not a lawyer, nor is any of my family, I like to be fair w/ my posts.
Flag Like ReplyReply robert grud Top 100 5 hours ago
GREAT WORK TIMES LEADER !-------stevens' explanation is typical of many white collar crooks---"it's an oversight"----a procedural breakdown caused it ---etc---THIS IS THEFT !---------but don't worry folks her people will call (or fax)(or e mail) the powers that be to straighten it out ----her office will work with the county to straighten it out !-----------what was judge gartley thinking----she accepts attorneys at their word ! ----- huh ! -------if this were a homeless person that stole 50 dollars worth of food from a super market he or she would be waiting for a bail hearing today !--------------keep digging TIMES LEADER !
Flag we_da_people and 20 more liked this Like ReplyReply Waddauknow Top 10 5 hours ago
As long as your naming names what Judge signed the papers and what County Offices never reviewed them for accuracy or reasonableness. So they going to pay the money back?
(Edited by author 5 hours ago)
Flag larrydallas and 8 more liked this Like ReplyReply ValleyParent Top 100 3 hours ago in reply to Waddauknow
If I was a courthouse employee who just received my pink slip I would want it paid back.
Makes you wonder how many salaries 144,000 dollars could have paid
Flag Ralph_Edmunds and 6 more liked this Like ReplyReply suffix 8 hours ago
JAIL TIME FOR THIS WOMEN PLEASE! Make an exmple out of her otherwise someone else will do it again.
Flag we_da_people and 7 more liked this Like ReplyReply Irene Williamson Top 50 8 hours ago
More Corruption??? And Just When We All thought things were calming down...bring on the investigations
Flag Jolly Roger and 8 more liked this Like ReplyReply Ralph_Edmunds Top 10 9 hours ago
Congratulations Times Leader - Now THIS is investigative journalism. More More More!!!
Flag Irene Williamson and 34 more liked this Like ReplyReply FrustratedAndFedUp Top 50 9 hours ago
Over billing?. - NO CHECKS AND BALANCES? - It is time for our public officials to stop signing without having him/her or someone on their staff verify what they are signing. - The parties involved can make all the "excuses" they want by putting the blame on others, but it boils down to YOU SIGNED YOU ARE TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE!!
(Edited by author 9 hours ago)
Flag we_da_people and 26 more liked this Like ReplyReply Hughy Lewis Top 50 4 hours ago in reply to FrustratedAndFedUp
Your stuck for 10 years.
Flag LUZTAXPAYER and 4 more liked this Like ReplyReply Jolly Roger Top 50 2 hours ago in reply to Hughy Lewis
No, you're not stuck for 10 years. More than one judge has been removed from office. Force an investigation.
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