Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004 | 11:10 a.m.
A local attorney who is the son of a prominent Las Vegas developer has been suspended from practicing law because he allegedly misappropriated $350,000 in settlement funds from his clients.
Lawrence J. Davidson, 38, also was indicted on federal charges Wednesday alleging that he forged a federal judge's signature on court documents in order to mislead a client and avoid malpractice charges.
Davidson is now facing disciplinary action from the state Bar Association, which moved for his suspension, and from the federal government for allegedly forging the signatures of U.S. District Judge Robert Jones, District Judge Sally Loehrer and clients.
The Nevada Supreme Court said the documents received from the state Bar Association's Southern Nevada Disciplinary Board "demonstrate that Davidson poses a substantial threat of serious harm, and that his immediate temporary suspension is warranted."
The court said Davidson's handling of funds should be restricted, and said that the documents indicate "he falsified court ordersand judgments, has forged his clients' signatures to a release in order to obtain some of the misappropriated funds and has... abandoned his practice and his family." According to the state Bar's petition for suspension of Davidson -- whose father, Don Davidson, is vice president of Triple Five Development and a member of the Las Vegas Housing Authority -- concocted fraudulent documents in order to make a client believe that he had won a medical malpractice case when in fact Davidson had neglected to follow the proper conditions for filing such a case.
Davidson allegedly failed to file his client's complaint with the medical-dental screening panel, at the time a requirement to filing a malpractice case in Clark County, according to the petition.
The petition also alleges that Davidson fabricated a default judgment for his client for $1.5 million dollars, signing Loehrer's name to the Oct. 30, 2002 judgement in the case of William J. Stein v. Steven Leibowitz. Davidson also allegedly fabricated motions for Leibowitz's bankruptcy case that was before Jones in federal court. Davidson allegedly created the bogus documents to try to stop Stein from filing a possible lawsuit against Davidson for failing to properly handle Stein's legal case.
Stein had thought he had won his medical malpractice case for a year before he got suspicious and went to the state Bar. According to the petition, Davidson claimed he was planning to "accumulate assets sufficient to compensate Mr. Stein for the value of his case."
The federal complaint against Davidson remains sealed. He made an initial appearance in federal court on Nov. 1 on the charges of forging Jones' signature twice. Davidson was released on a personal recognizance bond under supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services while he awaits trial.
Jones and Loehrer could not be reached for comment late Wednesday afternoon. A call to Davidson's law office was answered by a receptionist who said the office was closed. Davidson's attorney, Stephen Stein, did not immediately return a call seeking comment this morning.
A year ago the FBI subpoenaed documents from Davidson's office, but Davidson would not comment as to what the documents were, citing attorney-client privilege.
Rob Bare, counsel for the state Bar, said through a spokeswoman that the Bar is not in position to comment on the charges Davidson faces at this point. The bar began investigating Davidson in May 2003 after Loehrer wrote a letter to the par about the judgement she said she didn't sign.
The bar's petition further alleges that Davidson engaged in misappropriation of trust funds and lied to officials with the state Bar. In another case Davidson allegedly forged the signature of a client and misappropriated a notary stamp so that a $160,000 settlement was payable to Davidson.
Bank account statements show that the $160,000 was deposited into Davidson's account and then transferred into his trust account in September. As of Oct. 25 the trust account balance was $80.97 and the general account balance was $388.91, the petition states.
The court said Davidson is "prohibited from withdrawing funds from his client trust account, or from any other account containing funds belonging to third parties, except with written approval of bar counsel or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction."
Davidson is also prohibited from accepting new clients but may continue to represent existing clients for 15 days. "Any fees or other funds received during the 15-day period must be deposited in a trust account and there may be no withdrawals unless with written permission from the bar counsel or by a court."
Davidson's bank records were turned over to the bar through Jeanne Winkler, an attorney representing Davidson's wife, Jill Davidson.
In an affidavit Winkler explains that in mid-October Davidson left his wife and two children, leaving behind a letter to explain his absence. Included with the affidavit is a copy of the letter that Jill Davidson found inside a Tommy Bahama shoe box in a closet in their home. The letter led her to file a missing persons report with Metro Police.
"I'm sorry that I have had to do this, and that I could not tell you about it," the letter states. "I have done some very bad things to many people, and if I stuck around, not only would I lose my license and probably go to prison, but I would not be able to ensure that Allie and Noah are taken care of.
"The second option is to commit suicide, but frankly I've never been that interested in quitting."
Davidson did return to Las Vegas, and surrendered to U.S. Marshals prior to his appearance at the Nov. 1 hearing in federal court.
The letter goes on to state that Jill Davidson is to "make sure my dad knows this had nothing to do with his matter.
Don Davidson, who has not been charged with any crimes, has received a form letter from the FBI notifying him that he appears on wiretap intercepts in an ongoing political corruption investigation.
The FBI is required by law to send a notice to those on the intercepts, but being on any of the recordings does not necessarily mean those recorded are guilty of anything, FBI officials said.
Don Davidson's attorney, Dominic Gentile, who also represents Malone, has denied the allegation saying Don Davidson was not involved.
Along with Don Davidson, court documents state that Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey and former Commissioners Darrio Herrera, Erin Kenny and Lance Malone, and former strip club owner Michael Galardi are recorded on the intercepts.
The strip-club portion of the investigation has led to the federal indictments of Malone, Kincaid-Chauncey and Herrera, and the plea agreements of Kenny and Galardi, who are now cooperating with the FBI and federal prosecutors.
The tapes allegedly contain evidence that Kincaid-Chauncey, Herrera and Malone took thousands of dollars from Galardi in exchange for their votes and influence over matters involving three Las Vegas strip clubs Galardi owned at the time: Cheetahs, Jaguars and Leopard Lounge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Schiess is the lead prosecutor in the political corruption case, and is also in charge of the prosecution of Lawrence Davidson.
While the portions of the political corruption case involving Galardi move toward trials expected sometime next year, the FBI has shifted the focus of the investigation to developers.
The FBI is investigating an alleged $200,000 payment to Kenny by a developer to secure her help in changing zoning requirements in 2001 to allow a CVS drugstore to be built in northwest Las Vegas.
A source close to the investigation said that investigators are trying to determine if Lawrence Davidson had any role in the alleged transaction.
The location of the store and the amount of landscaping that should be required as a buffer to neighboring homes were among the issues debated by the commission about the proposed store.
The approval for the change to the master plan and to the zoning needed for the pharmacy and convenience store came the same day: Nov. 7, 2001.
The approval came despite the opposition of Commissioner Chip Maxfield, who represents the area, and Commissioner Bruce Woodbury.
In May of the same year, the county approved the master-plan change that would have made it easier to grant the zoning, but Clark County counsel Rob Warhola advised the board to bring the change back through the county's process because the neighbors were not properly notified that the issue was coming before the County Commission.
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