A lawyer (snake) has been sentenced to two years in prison for his role in taking a disabled client of money she was entitled to receive from a $500,000 insurance settlement. He should have received ten years! It’s like the fable of old where the Fox watched the hen house. A sorry joke indeed.

Ed Callow, must also pay $167,500 in restitution, representing his client’s share of the portion of the settlement he didn’t tell her about, as well as attorney fees the victim has paid. Now disbarred, Callow pleaded guilty in July to five felony charges in the King County Superior Court case, including theft and money laundering.

His co-defendant, former claims adjuster Fariborz “Romeo” Rahrovi, is accused of aiding the theft and taking $135,000 for himself and faces much the same charges that Callow did. Rahrovi is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty at the beginning of the year. Prosecutors said Callow told his client the settlement had been only $250,000, not $500,000, and paid her only some $165,000 of it, representing about one-third of the total amount.

He was disbarred earlier and has been in jail since March. Be careful who you hire as a lawyer. Check the State bar records. Ask around. At the law firm of William A. Miller in Scottsdale Arizona we have filed suits against dishonest lawyer and a few have been disbarred. Call us at 602-319-6899 for more help with Arizona related legal questions.

If you practice law in New York, you better know finance. Texas, it’s oil law. Hollywood, the savvy lawyers get into entertainment law. If it’s Arizona you better know real estate. By hook or crook, it always shows up in Arizona. That’s because we are a fast growing State.

In my early years, I represented the Arizona Association of Realtors. One time I sat on a panel. The panel was asked to speak to homebuyers about the most important item of due diligence in buying a home. One lawyer said it was title insurance. One said it was the home inspection. A realtor said it was the school system. When it was my turn I was baffled a little because all of the good answers were taken.

Then I recalled how happy my childhood was. Besides my brother, sister, church & great parents it was the neighbors that helped make our house a home. So, I blurted out- ‘it is your neighbors…that is the most important factor in buying a home…crappy neighbors crappy home life.’

So, as simple as this sounds, before you make the greatest financial decision of your life in buying a home, speak to the neighbors. Before your money goes hard, make sure that you like the neighbors. It is that simple.

Call Bill Miller at 602.319.6899 for any Arizona Real Estate questions you have.

As they say, you need to be careful what you ask for…In the summer 2006, Clint Underhill purchased 64 shares in Underhill Holding Company, Inc. (HC) from David Caruthers and Caruther’s wife for $6,000.  Several months later, the Caruthers wrote to Clinton and accused him of knowingly misrepresenting HC’s value.  The Caruthers demanded the return…

On October 15, 2013 after four years plus of bare-knuckle litigation and high stakes legal positioning the investment bankers who financed Ironite have their victory. Case closed. The law firm of William A. Miller represented these investment bankers when the former operator of Ironite Fertilizer sued them for a host of unfounded claims demanding millions…

In the Lerner case, 648 Ariz. Adv. Rep 35 (CA 1, 11/27/12) the Arizona Court of Appeals continued to uphold the stigmatized property statute. The statute gives non  disclosure bogie’s. It limits the things that MUST be disclosed and cuts off liability for other non disclosures that common sense would suggest need be disclosed. ie….