Latest Scandal! Comic Book Dealer Disbarred As Lawyer!!!!

[esquirecomics]

Disbarrment is serious. There are other ethical charges where I would not be so quick to judge or consider as serious. I have many very good friends who are attorneys. If they got disbarred, I would not say, oh we can never talk again, but I would be very hesitant to be quite as good friends with them as I was before. Bottom line is this -- if you want to relate this Doug, I shared meals with Doug, liked Doug, did business with Doug, thought he was an enthusiastic addition to our hobby. But we weren't "friends" per se. We were acquaintances.

 

But here's the rub. You cannot call out someone like Jason Ewert and pick and choose whose misconduct you make a big deal out of. Just because we like Doug and know him does not mean that we should be concerned or question the ethics of his business or how he conducts it. I wish that this were someone other than someone that I like, but if you are not willing to speak out against someone you like when you do something wrong, then your position becomes arbitrary and reliant upon your own personal whims. In other words, there's no objectivity.

 

This was a serious offense, and disbarment the most serious penalty for a lawyer. Lawyers are put in a unique position of trust and abuse of that trust is considered a serious offense. People already don't trust lawyers enough as it is.

 

I agree 100%, and this was my underlying reasoning in my discourse with RedHook.

[Wrightson fan]

I don't have as much of a vested interest in this matter as some of you do as I have only purchased one high dollar book from Doug, and that was in the past month. The transaction went smoothly and he let me pay for the book in two payments. I did not care for the 18.00 charge for shipping, but to his credit the box was bulletproof and the book arrived in perfect shape. With that said, I will now say this. I hate to read news like this as it makes me question why I collect books as we are truly running out of honest dealers. I had planned on doing alot more business with Doug as he was very cordial and wanted to get my future business. He has lost any chance at that now. He can conduct his comic ventures in the most above board manner possible, but that does not change the fact that he is a thief. If he would endanger his livelihood by the conversion of his clients asset's, what will stop him from one day doing the same thing to his comic clients? I know that he has an incredible collection of books, but at what cost were they achieved? How many grandmothers lost their savings or their inheritances due to his actions? His actions are not excusable and his collection is tainted because of it in my opinion. This is more than a mere momentary loss of judgement. It took planning and deception on his part to "achieve" what he did on obviously so large a scale. He is lucky to only lose his practice in my opinion. I will tell you one thing he has also lost, any future business from me. Anyone who does business with him from now on needs to honestly ask themselves if they feel comfortable knowingly dealing with someone who was capable of such a serious misuse of trust. Just because you are a "good guy" in one aspect of your life does not mean you can be a [embarrassing lack of self control] in other aspects and it be ok. There is no gray in a matter such as this, only black and white.

 

 

 

Scott

[qualitycomix]

Disbarrment is serious. There are other ethical charges where I would not be so quick to judge or consider as serious. I have many very good friends who are attorneys. If they got disbarred, I would not say, oh we can never talk again, but I would be very hesitant to be quite as good friends with them as I was before. Bottom line is this -- if you want to relate this Doug, I shared meals with Doug, liked Doug, did business with Doug, thought he was an enthusiastic addition to our hobby. But we weren't "friends" per se. We were acquaintances.

 

But here's the rub. You cannot call out someone like Jason Ewert and pick and choose whose misconduct you make a big deal out of. Just because we like Doug and know him does not mean that we should be concerned or question the ethics of his business or how he conducts it. I wish that this were someone other than someone that I like, but if you are not willing to speak out against someone you like when you do something wrong, then your position becomes arbitrary and reliant upon your own personal whims. In other words, there's no objectivity.

 

This was a serious offense, and disbarment the most serious penalty for a lawyer. Lawyers are put in a unique position of trust and abuse of that trust is considered a serious offense. People already don't trust lawyers enough as it is.

 

I agree 100%, and this was my underlying reasoning in my discourse with RedHook.

 

Lawyers know the full ramifications of disbarment more than the average layman like myself. I personally don't know of any lawyers who have been disbarred, so it must be a pretty rare thing, at least coming from my limited experience.

[qualitycomix]

I don't have as much of a vested interest in this matter as some of you do as I have only purchased one high dollar book from Doug, and that was in the past month. The transaction went smoothly and he let me pay for the book in two payments. I did not care for the 18.00 charge for shipping, but to his credit the box was bulletproof and the book arrived in perfect shape. With that said, I will now say this. I hate to read news like this as it makes me question why I collect books as we are truly running out of honest dealers. I had planned on doing alot more business with Doug as he was very cordial and wanted to get my future business. He has lost any chance at that now. He can conduct his comic ventures in the most above board manner possible, but that does not change the fact that he is a thief. If he would endanger his livelihood by the conversion of his clients asset's, what will stop him from one day doing the same thing to his comic clients? I know that he has an incredible collection of books, but at what cost were they achieved? How many grandmothers lost their savings or their inheritances due to his actions. His actions are not excusable and his collection is tainted because of it in my opinion. This is more than a mere momentary loss of judgement. It took planning and deception on his part to "achieve" what he did on obviously so large a scale. He is lucky to only lose his practice in my opinion. I will tell you one thing he has also lost, any future business from me. Anyone who does business with him from now needs to honestly ask themselves if they feel comfortable knowingly dealing with someone who was capable of such a serious misuse of trust. Just because you are a "good guy" in one aspect of your life does not mean you can be a [embarrassing lack of self control] in other aspects and it be ok. There is no gray in a matter such as this, only black and white.

 

 

 

Scott

 

Well said Scott. Nothing is black and white, but this is as close as it gets. I'm saddened and disappointed about what happened and the rationalization that some are using to defend Doug.

[squidmo2000]

I don't have as much of a vested interest in this matter as some of you do as I have only purchased one high dollar book from Doug, and that was in the past month. The transaction went smoothly and he let me pay for the book in two payments. I did not care for the 18.00 charge for shipping, but to his credit the box was bulletproof and the book arrived in perfect shape. With that said, I will now say this. I hate to read news like this as it makes me question why I collect books as we are truly running out of honest dealers. I had planned on doing alot more business with Doug as he was very cordial and wanted to get my future business. He has lost any chance at that now. He can conduct his comic ventures in the most above board manner possible, but that does not change the fact that he is a thief. If he would endanger his livelihood by the conversion of his clients asset's, what will stop him from one day doing the same thing to his comic clients? I know that he has an incredible collection of books, but at what cost were they achieved? How many grandmothers lost their savings or their inheritances due to his actions? His actions are not excusable and his collection is tainted because of it in my opinion. This is more than a mere momentary loss of judgement. It took planning and deception on his part to "achieve" what he did on obviously so large a scale. He is lucky to only lose his practice in my opinion. I will tell you one thing he has also lost, any future business from me. Anyone who does business with him from now on needs to honestly ask themselves if they feel comfortable knowingly dealing with someone who was capable of such a serious misuse of trust. Just because you are a "good guy" in one aspect of your life does not mean you can be a [embarrassing lack of self control] in other aspects and it be ok. There is no gray in a matter such as this, only black and white.

 

 

 

Scott

I wonder what Mr. A would do in a case like this....?...

[TLC55555]

It's taken a while, but this hobby's finally turning out just how I like it.

 

Did you write something?

[mar-vell]

I don't have as much of a vested interest in this matter as some of you do as I have only purchased one high dollar book from Doug, and that was in the past month. The transaction went smoothly and he let me pay for the book in two payments. I did not care for the 18.00 charge for shipping, but to his credit the box was bulletproof and the book arrived in perfect shape. With that said, I will now say this. I hate to read news like this as it makes me question why I collect books as we are truly running out of honest dealers. I had planned on doing alot more business with Doug as he was very cordial and wanted to get my future business. He has lost any chance at that now. He can conduct his comic ventures in the most above board manner possible, but that does not change the fact that he is a thief. If he would endanger his livelihood by the conversion of his clients asset's, what will stop him from one day doing the same thing to his comic clients? I know that he has an incredible collection of books, but at what cost were they achieved? How many grandmothers lost their savings or their inheritances due to his actions? His actions are not excusable and his collection is tainted because of it in my opinion. This is more than a mere momentary loss of judgement. It took planning and deception on his part to "achieve" what he did on obviously so large a scale. He is lucky to only lose his practice in my opinion. I will tell you one thing he has also lost, any future business from me. Anyone who does business with him from now on needs to honestly ask themselves if they feel comfortable knowingly dealing with someone who was capable of such a serious misuse of trust. Just because you are a "good guy" in one aspect of your life does not mean you can be a [embarrassing lack of self control] in other aspects and it be ok. There is no gray in a matter such as this, only black and white.

 

 

 

Scott

 

yeah but dont lose sight of the fact that he was building a world class collection! I mean probably the best silver age in the world! Some times you have to be willing to step on other people to be number 1!!! Think of those poor little old ladies as mere contributers to his greatness! After all they should be honored to have played even a minor role in such an undertaking---I mean forget about honor! It's all about comics isn't it!

[Ze-man]

Thnx for the honest replies Scott, BK.

 

I kinda already knew what your answer(s) would be, but still needed to hear them. To me this all comes as such a shock that I think I am in a bit of......well shock, and also denial as a result.

Down the road if I find myself at his site, and see something I might want. I will probably think with my head instead of my heart. And go elsewhere

 

He may be a nice guy, and an above average dealer who did me right on more then one occasion, but my mind will always come back to not just what, but HOW he did what he did

There IS just no way to sugarcoat it

 

And it bums me out bigtime.

 

Ze-

[Mr. Zipper]

[One somewhat related issue that this brings up for me is the growing need for a dealer approval organization, much like the "Good Housekeeping" stamp of approval in other industries.

 

This is precisely what I recently proposed in the thread pertaining to the Comic Collectors' Association. I used the UACC's Registered Dealer program as a model for this type of "seal of approval."

[1962]

What a bad day for comic dealers and attorneys alike.

[VintageComics]

I've loosely read what went on here and have some thoughts. Some may have been covered and some may not. If i get any flak so be it:

 

1) There is not one person posting on these boards that does not have any secrets that they would to keep hidden on some level....like i read once in a book somewhere, some peoples sins are readily apparant before hand, while others are not until later. You show me that you can walk on water and maybe then you can be the exception to this rule

 

2) Although professionals and role models are held to greater accountability than the average person at times, is there anyone here that has been excessively late on credit card payments or the like? Maybe borrowed money from a friend and did not pay it back? If it was personal greed that caused him to indulge in this poor decision making, i would say most if not all of us are guilty of it on one level or another. Don't misquote me. This was HUGE in a negative way and may have caused some people serious grief but how many of us possibly would have done something similar under the correct circumstances?

 

3) After extensive dealings with Doug, i have to say he has been solid in the past two years I've known him. I've met him in person, spoken on the phone numerous times ..etc. Never even a whisp of anything but professionialism and top notch customer service. Also only heard great things about him.

 

Many of us have done some form of wrong and made it right. Everyone has the opportunity to redeem themselves. Some of us have done GREAT wrongs and made them right. I have. As time goes by, we are usually forgiven, and many (not all) things become forgotten. This is life. I will continue to buy from him as i believe in second chances and unless he shows that for some reason he has not repented, i have no reason not to trust him. You can gossip about that.

 

Roy.

[Gallinator-migration]

"Are you going to boycott FD because he got nailed for some shilling?"

 

Yep! Plus, he's a bit of a .

[esquirecomics]

I've loosely read what went on here and have some thoughts. Some may have been covered and some may not. If i get any flak so be it:

 

1) There is not one person posting on these boards that does not have any secrets that they would to keep hidden on some level....like i read once in a book somewhere, some peoples sins are readily apparant before hand, while others are not until later. You show me that you can walk on water and maybe then you can be the exception to this rule

 

2) Although professionals and role models are held to greater accountability than the average person at times, is there anyone here that has been excessively late on credit card payments or the like? Maybe borrowed money from a friend and did not pay it back? If it was personal greed that caused him to indulge in this poor decision making, i would say most if not all of us are guilty of it on one level or another. Don't misquote me. This was HUGE in a negative way and may have caused some people serious grief but how many of us possibly would have done something similar under the correct circumstances?

 

3) After extensive dealings with Doug, i have to say he has been solid in the past two years I've known him. I've met him in person, spoken on the phone numerous times ..etc. Never even a whisp of anything but professionialism and top notch customer service. Also only heard great things about him.

 

Many of us have done some form of wrong and made it right. Everyone has the opportunity to redeem themselves. Some of us have done GREAT wrongs and made them right. I have. As time goes by, we are usually forgiven, and many (not all) things become forgotten. This is life. I will continue to buy from him as i believe in second chances and unless he shows that for some reason he has not repented, i have no reason not to trust him. You can gossip about that.

 

Roy.

 

With all due respects Roy, your analogies are terrible and grossly inapplicable to this discussion. I also find them naive to be quite candid and more of some of the "well, he is not a murderer" rationale. This is not a debate about apples and oranges. Whether we have "secrets" in our own past or not is irrelevant to Doug's situation unless you can point to someone as being hypocritical in their comments.

 

No one, of course, is telling you what or what not to do. Totally your personal choice as to whether you want to continue doing business with Doug. But if any of the above was meant to contribute to the discussion or be persuasive beyond simply expressing your own opinion, it did not. IMHO.

 

Most of us no doubt are willing to allow Doug time to demonstrate he deserves a second chance. But he has to earn it, not be given it on a silver platter.

[The Black Hand ®]

Without trying to sound sycophantic, I've got to say I'm glad Zaid is on these boards to be a clear and informed voice for some of us who aren't perhaps as skilled or knowledgable about some of these things.

[nearmint]

Some have suggested that Doug is addicted to finding the highest graded copies of books and acquiring them. If the actions that resulted in his disbarment were the result of this possible addiction, I'd be concerned that he's done nothing to deal with that addiction. In fact, by becoming a full-time dealer, he's allowed the environment where that addiction was born to become a bigger part of his life. A drunk doesn't deal with his addiction by becoming a bartender.

 

I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not a doctor. But these are the thoughts that go through my mind when, knowing what I do now, I wonder if I'd ever be willing to consign books with Doug.

[VintageComics]

Mark, all i am saying is that to me, he has redeemed himself over the past two years i have known him...how long does redemption take? Have you got a timetable for that as well?

You are in his circle, so you have a different perspective on this than i do. To me it's a job and i expect the same from every level of employee, from garbage man to laywer man. If i did not make any points worthy of the forum, so be it.... i am tired (full day at work), rushing (going to pick up my daughter) and trying to process all the posts and put in my 2 cents. to re-iterate....happened years ago, did it not? It's just that we found out about it today. To me it's a relic that will haunt him...I'm still gonna deal with the guy as i believe in 2nd chances.

[Ze-man]

Some have suggested that Doug is addicted to finding the highest graded copies of books and acquiring them. .

 

 

If somebody says all this is not his fault, or that he should not be held accountable becasue he has a collecting "illness".. I will slug'um.

 

( yes that was a joke)

 

Ze-

[burntboy]

Some have suggested that Doug is addicted to finding the highest graded copies of books and acquiring them. .

 

 

If somebody says all this is not his fault, or that he should not be held accountable becasue he has a collecting "illness".. I will slug'um.

 

( yes that was a joke)

 

Ze-

 

Kenny - i think you're referring to CCD (comic collecting disorder).........

[LearnedHand]

Quote:

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Perhaps he needed to "borrow" these funds for the X-Men #1 and subsequent resubs?

 

So Mark, being an Attorney and familiar with these types of offenses, is this something that a lawyer could easily overlook by accident or mistakenly do? I would think as the court did, that his length of time being a lawyer, he should have, and probably did know better. I'm just still trying to gauge the effect this should have on his character and to know how bad these offenses are (I'm thinking very bad).

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

... While law school is notorious for not teaching ethical realities and instead focuses on absurd ethical situations, the one thing you do learn from day one is to never commingle your funds with clients funds. One cannot "accidently" commit this violation (except if perhaps you mistakenly deposit a check into the wrong account, but I am taking isolated incidents, not a pattern). Certainly it is not beyond the pale that an attorney's bookkeeping records may not be up to speed. That is why we hire CPAs for one thing.

 

I haven't yet read through this entire string, however, as a member of the New York Bar Association, I can tell you that New York has a requirement for Mandatory Continuing Legal Education and, under this requirement, every single attorney must obtain X hours (for every 2-year reporting cycle) of Ethics courses.

 

I don't personally know the person who was disbarred, but I can tell you that this was no accident.

 

Peter

[esquirecomics]

Quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Perhaps he needed to "borrow" these funds for the X-Men #1 and subsequent resubs?

 

So Mark, being an Attorney and familiar with these types of offenses, is this something that a lawyer could easily overlook by accident or mistakenly do? I would think as the court did, that his length of time being a lawyer, he should have, and probably did know better. I'm just still trying to gauge the effect this should have on his character and to know how bad these offenses are (I'm thinking very bad).

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

... While law school is notorious for not teaching ethical realities and instead focuses on absurd ethical situations, the one thing you do learn from day one is to never commingle your funds with clients funds. One cannot "accidently" commit this violation (except if perhaps you mistakenly deposit a check into the wrong account, but I am taking isolated incidents, not a pattern). Certainly it is not beyond the pale that an attorney's bookkeeping records may not be up to speed. That is why we hire CPAs for one thing.

 

I haven't yet read through this entire string, however, as a member of the New York Bar Association, I can tell you that New York has a requirement for Madatory Continuing Legal Education and, under this requirement, every single attorney must obtain X hours (for every 2-year reporting cycle) of Ethics courses.

 

It is 4 credit hours I believe out of 24 hours per 24 month period.