PinoyWatchDog.com | Atty James Beirne Faces over 200 Contempt of Court Charges; LA Superior Court Judge to Decide his Fate in late February 2012

By Rene Villaroman with PWD Investigative Team

http://www.pinoywatchdog.com/

• Glendale, CA –Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Soussan Bruguera has issued an Order to Show Cause for Glendale Bankruptcy Attorney James G. Beirne for being in contempt of court over 200 times after he began began an advertising push entitled “Setting the Record Straight” which began coming out in the Weekend and Midweek editions of Balita newspapers a month ago. Atty Beirne is under a court order since the summer of 2011 to captive advertising or communications, or such advertising that ends to confuse, deceive or mislead the public; or to not guaranty any outcome on a legal matter, or to use a spokesperson without disclosure of the spokesperson’s title. The maximum sentence for all these counts would be three (3) years in jail and about $200,000 in fines, plus attorney fees. However, it would be expected that the sentence would not be that harsh.

• The contempt trial process has been ordered to Commence on Monday, February 27, 2012. The court order stemmed from a motion for a preliminary injunction filed in June 2011 by Diosdado and Janet Duldulao, whose house in Eagle Rock was foreclosed due to Atty Beirne’s failure to file bankruptcy petition for the couple, a service that the couple had sought to receive from the attorney a fter paying him a substantial sum of money. The Duldulaos had alleged in their suit that Atty Beirne had committed fraud and malpractice, among a number of other charges. But last month, reacting to an expose that PinoyWatchDog.com unleashed in its November 26, 2011 issue, Balita Media began an advertising campaign designed to deflect the force of PinoyWatchDog.com’s disclosures (Two Clients Tell Bad Experience with Atty Beirne).

• Attorney Beirne had an open letter entitled “Setting the Record Straight.” Among the over 200 allegations of contempt is the statement that “the latest edition of [PinoyWatchDog.com] mentioned a couple of people who were turned down by us over 10 years ago, because they were not qualified for the relief they sought.” Since I wrote the story I know who the two clients having bad experiences are. And PinoyWatch- Dog.com has obtained documents showing that Attorney Beirne’s statements about these two clients are total deception. We have documents to prove that this couple of people who were turned down by Beirne 10 years ago was in fact clients of the Law Office of James Beirne as late as five years ago.

• The law office took their fees and failed to deliver the services they were seeking. These “couple of people” were Reynaldo Anson Villarica and the Pecaoco couple of Burbank. The Gertrudes and Rick Pecaoco bankruptcy petitions were signed by Atty. Beirne in 2008, not over ten years ago, and obviously she was not turned down because he was signing legal documents on the case. Pecaoco came forward to PinoyWatchDog.com because Beirne refused to provide a refund, which is quite inconsistent with the protestation that they were not qualified. Rey Villarica, the other Beirne client in my story, had given PinoyWatchDog.com a 2006 letter from James Beirne’s office that clearly showed work still in progress. Mr. Villarica also felt he was entitled to a refund, and wonders now why his money was taken if he was not qualified for the relief that was sought. Another part of the letter advertisement claimed that for almost 20 years the majority of Filipinos in the Los Angeles area have been familiar with the excellent work done by the Beirne Law Office. PinoyWatchDog.com contends that Beirne’s claim cannot be true, as only one attorney handles 800 files in his law office, so it is hard to understand how the work can be excellent. But it is equally hard to claim that over half of our kababayans know of this man, and certainly half do not know of his excellent work.

• One media observer told me “did half the people even know why Johnny Cochran was famous before the O.J. trial? For that volume of people to know of someone’s work product is impossible unless they were a president or mass murderer.” Another area of contempt charges involve Beirne’s claim that he is a ‘charter’ member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. Guess what we found out? They do not even know what a charter member means.

• But, we are not the ultimate arbiters of Balita and Atty Beirne’s “mockery of justice,” a phrase made fashionable by Balita’s own Executive Editor, Rhony Laigo. The flagrant violations of an utstanding court order by the Law Office of Jame Beirne will be decided when this law suit goes to trial in the end of Feburary 2012. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this story is Beirne’s scathing attack on Attorney Joel Bander that may very well end up in court. Bander is representing the Duldulaos in this very case, and obtained the court order that is now being contested as violated. Beirne’s letter contains the standard reckless Balita charges against Bander. But since Beirne is now alleged to have violated a court order for truthfulness, these long-made allegations might actually have some airing in a court of law.

• The attacks vary from Bander allegedly being obsessed to do damage to Beirne, how Bander has a ‘hatred’ for Beirne, and about alleged defects in Bander’s former law firm. Bander told the court on Thursday, January 5, 2012 that he would not be trial counsel as he would be a witness. Bander has told PinoyWatchDog.com that Dennis Wilson of Burbank will be handling the contempt trial. “Attorney Wilson is a great trial lawyer. He lives in court. I am happy to have him on the team,” Bander said. Attorney Wilson was unavailable for comment, as he was in court.