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3/10/2012 1Atty. James Beirne Contempt
Submitted by PinoyWatchDog.comBy Rene Villaroman with PWD Investigative Team
3/10/2012 2Atty. James Beirne Contempt
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 an advertising push entitled “Setting
the Record Straight” which began coming out in the
Weekend and Midweek editions of Balita newspapers
a month ago.
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Atty Beirne is under a court order since the summer of 2011 to
not have any false, misleading, deceptive advertising or
communications, or such advertising that tends 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.
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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 after
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.
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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.”
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Since I wrote the story I know who the two clients having
bad experiences are. And PinoyWatchDog.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.
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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.
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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 can
not 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.
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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.”
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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
outstanding 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.
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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.
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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.
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