Yearly Archives: 2017

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Life Insurance and Financial Elder Abuse For years seniors have included life insurance as a part of their estate plan. Sometimes the policies are held outright and sometimes in trust for tax planning reasons. As policy owners age, insurance brokers encourage cashing in older policies and replacing them […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER TransUnion Set to Pay Victims $60 Million TransUnion and the Fair Credit Reporting Act TransUnion, a credit reporting agency, has been ordered to pay its victims $60 million, a decision and amount rendered by a California jury recently. A class action, filed in 2012, alleged that TransUnion used […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Fiduciary Rule Finally Takes Effect Putting You First After months of delay, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) long-debated “fiduciary rule” took effect last week. Although the final rule was somewhat watered down from early drafts, it nonetheless ushers in a new era when it comes to advising Americans […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Bank Broker Suspended and Fined for Mishandling Variable Annuity The Case Recently, a broker at a national bank was fined and suspended by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for a year and a half after alleged wrongdoing. The broker allegedly put his wife on his client’s variable […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Financial Elder Abuse Importance of Civil Recovery Actions Financial elder abuse is often criminal. Whether you’re a victim or a loved one, always report criminal financial elder abuse to law enforcement. But always pursue your civil remedies too. Criminal prosecutions are important but they are lengthy and not […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Hospital Settles $34 Million Whistleblower Case Whistleblower Reveals False Claims Qui tam (or whistleblower) lawsuits are typically large, complicated cases. In a recent case, a whistleblower alleged large scale violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) by a hospital and its affiliated clinic. The FCA allows private […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Financial Elder Abuse Door to Door Fraud May Be Knocking at the Door Financial elder abuse plagues seniors throughout this country, the State of California and right here in San Francisco. One growing version of financial elder abuse involves perpetrators who come door to door or call on […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Hospice Chain Settles $12.2 Million Whistleblower Case Whistleblower Reveals Massive Kickback Scheme A large hospice chain recently settled a whistleblower (also known as a “qui tam”) case alleging large scale violations of the False Claims Act (FCA). The FCA allows private citizens to initiate whistleblower or qui tam […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Iraq War False Claims Act Case Huge Whistleblower Settlement A food purveyor to American troops in the Iraq War recently settled a massive criminal and civil false claim whistleblower (also known as “qui tam”) case against it. During the war, the purveyor held over $8.5 billion in contracts […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Perils of Whole Life Policies Whole Life Policies Whole life insurance policies are often unsuitable for the individuals who are pushed into buying them. In an ideal world, whole life policies were created to maximize the prospect of high interest rates and increasing stock prices which, again […]