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

1,034 posts in this topic

Wow, as a newcomer to these boards, I find this particular discussion very disturbing, yet also very informative. As a former collector (20+years ago), picking up the hobby again, this and other threads I have been reading over the past months make me want to re-pack the longboxes and come back in another 20 years.

 

E-bay scams, pressing, and I guess the list goes on and on...not that the hobby I knew was filled with saints, but clearly one has to be very careful with whom one does business with these days. Yikes!! For a newcomer, that is the really scary part. The education continues....

Russ

 

First - Welcome to the boards....... 893applaud-thumb.gif

 

Second; i was in a similar position to you about 2 years ago when i first found these boards. at the time, i was primarily interested in finding out more about Comic-Keys and then just stayed around as there was so much to read and learn.

 

IMHO, i think most of the ills that plague the hobby now have always been here. like so much of the bad things in life that seem to have become either worse or at least more prevalent, i believe that the perspective is fueled by our incredible ability to communicate and retrieve information, so easily and rapidly.

 

i don't think it's any worse necessarily, it's just shoved right up in our faces now.............hang in there, 'bro..................... thumbsup2.gif

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As for civil suits, what's the damage other than lost interest on the money he delayed getting to his clients? That could be substantial if the NY statutory rate of 9% is applied depending on how much money we're talking about, but I don't see a basis for pain and suffering or any of that. I didn't read anything in there to indicate the clients didn't eventually get their money. Not saying this isn't serious, maybe that old lady really needed the money.

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And this is why I worry about ever going out on my own and starting my own practice. Bookkeeping and keeping track of administrative stuff is not my strong suit. Even if you hire a CPA you still need to deal with some of this on your own unless you 100% trust an office manager, and they're often the ones ripping off their employers.

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you need to have clients and cases where money is coming in.

 

it sounds like he was a reasonably successful lawyer, just that he lived over his head and it caused problems. sadly, it's typical among a lot of these small firm practicioners. (big firms have huge accounting departments that keep track of all of this stuff. tough to pull any shenanigans there other than overbilling.)

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I know I'm probably repeating myself like many others are because I guess I'm still in shock so maybe this is therapy for me. I didn't know Doug as a lawyer, only as a comic dealer and I have had nothing but good things to say about him. I don't condone what has occurred but I also have no desire in participating in bashing a man when he is down, Doug will have to deal with this stigma for years to comes. I just want to wish him the best and hope he can one day put this behind him. frown.gif

 

The irony is that the more people try to minimize what he did or trivialize it by comparing it to stealing an apple from a grocery store, the worse it's going to get for Doug. Just watch. His staunchest allies are unwittingly cutting his throat.

 

As I said before, I think Doug is a nice guy, and as reprehensible as I find his professional conduct as described in that disciplinary opinion, I'd like to see him work hard to try to redeem himself -- not just in the hobby, but overall because whatever drove him to this goes far beyond comics in my uneducated opinion. But the more I read these BS defenses of his behavior, the madder I get. I just hope that when/if Doug comes to give his side, I don't have to read some mealy-mouthed garbage about accounting errors, innocent misunderstandings, or stealing frigging apples from grocery stores.

 

Give me a list of the posters who are defending his behavior. You're the one slinging the BS. Again, no one is minimizing what he did. I think there are far more people painting him as the second coming of Charles Manson. Did he insult the fraternity of lawyers? For sure. Are you ethically outraged? For sure.

 

I'm personally disgusted that Doug is going on trial here for a second time. Of course all the people that were affected by his actions deserve our sympathy. I am comfortable in believing that the court made sure Doug paid the price for his actions, and that things were set as right as were possible with his former clients. I believe in the system and I think after a few days of spinning on a top over this, and Doug's personal reputation is thoroughly trashed we should think about the appropriateness of running him up a flag on a comic book chat board.

 

He's out of the lawyer club. He did the crime, he's doing the time. I'm satisfied with that, and I'll stand by my friend. And the next time we're sharing a beer, I'll grill his azz. Privately.

 

Brad

 

I'm going to skip the long-winded post for once and just call you a hypocrite instead. confused-smiley-013.gif

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you need to have clients and cases where money is coming in.

 

it sounds like he was a reasonably successful lawyer, just that he lived over his head and it caused problems. sadly, it's typical among a lot of these small firm practicioners. (big firms have huge accounting departments that keep track of all of this stuff. tough to pull any shenanigans there other than overbilling.)

 

youre exaggerating the difficulty! Have you never maintained separate bank accounts?

One is for YOUAR money. The other is holding OTHER PEOPLES MONEY. Whats so hard about that?

 

 

 

and to a previous poster, how can an escrow have to pay 9%?? thats more than any account can earn anyehere???

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I'm going to skip the long-winded post for once......

 

893applaud-thumb.gif

 

You know all those times I said FU? Well I only ment it like a half dozen times or so. flowerred.gif

 

cloud9.gif I meant it every time. flowerred.gif

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He's gone further than most dealers have in his willingness to discuss it openly with people who inquire. He's discussed his proclivity to press books right here on the boards, in public. He doesn't advertise that with his listings.....yet. He's done more than most dealers I know.

 

I think what most of us are trying to determine here is intent. Did Doug intend to rip people off, did Doug intend to help his clients evade child support etc.

 

My honest opinion is that he, like many of us, rationalized what he did when it was happening. Like "I'm only going to borrow the money for a few days, he's not doing anything with it right now. They'll never miss it." Then when he couldn't pay back immediately, the situation deteriorated. I don't think Doug ever meant to deliberately hurt anyone, only to help his clients and to help himself buy books. That doesn't excuse the effects of his actions, because he disregarded the consequences of his decisions. That's why the code for lawyers is there, to protect the public from such actions. He chose not to follow the code and faced the consequences by the bar and subsequently, his true love - comics, will suffer some as a result as well.

 

So there was probably no malice in Doug's intent and Doug's a nice guy so some choose to stand by him as their friend, which I can understand. Doug's track record for the past 2 years has been good according to his customers, so that's a start. I still am concerned that some of his pattern of getting into financial problems may trickle over into his business. Anyone that's been disbarred for financial malfeasance (is that the right word?) should have a spotlight placed on them for a long time, no matter what their current profession.

 

48 hours of thinking about this has given me some clarity on this issue. I'm still disappointed and saddened by the situation as are most here on the boards. I don't hold any grudge personally against Doug and it's my hope that he'll get thru this and be even more open about his business practices than he already is.

 

And remember, those who are saying that he has done his penance, Doug chose to do what he did, and now he has to live with the backlash of what he chose. Fair or not.

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