In Re Harmon

435 B.R. 758, 2010 WL 3377707
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedJune 3, 2010
Docket19-40219
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 435 B.R. 758 (In Re Harmon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Harmon, 435 B.R. 758, 2010 WL 3377707 (Ga. 2010).

Opinion

ORDER IMPOSING SANCTIONS

MARY GRACE DIEHL, Bankruptcy Judge.

These two cases are before the Court on Orders to Show Cause. Joann Harmon’s case came before the Court on an Order to Show Cause directed to Joann Harmon, Soo J. Hong, Jennifer A. Jakob-Barnes, and Craig Z. Black as filing attorneys for Robert J. Semrad & Associates, LLC (“Semrad”). {Harmon, Docket No. 17). That matter came on for hearing on February 25, 2010. Present at the hearing were Joann Harmon, Soo J. Hong and Craig Z. Black, current attorneys at Sem-rad, Jennifer A. Jakob-Barnes, a former attorney at Semrad, Frank G. Nason, counsel for Semrad and counsel for Soo J. Hong, Craig Z. Black, and Jennifer A. Jakob-Jones individually, Martin Ochs, counsel for the U.S. Trustee, and Edward K. Safir, counsel for the Chapter 13 Trustee. The Court took evidence and heard the arguments of counsel. Based on the parties’ representations at the hearing, the Court has serious concerns regarding the actions taken by attorneys in Ms. Harmon’s case and the routine practices of the Semrad law firm.

The Court’s concerns are exacerbated by the recent improper conduct by Semrad and the results of the U.S. Trustee’s investigation in another case before this Court. (In re Eison, Docket No. 54). Matthew and Dawn Eison’s case came before the Court on an Order to Show Cause directed to G. Scott Buff, as counsel for the debtors. (E ison, Docket No. 21). That matter came on for hearing on September 30, 2009. Present at the hearing were G. Scott Buff, Frank G. Nason, as counsel for *761 Semrad, Martin Ochs, counsel for the U.S. Trustee, and Edward K. Safir, counsel for the Chapter 13 Trustee. Given the similarities between the behaviors at issue in each case, the Court here consolidates its Show Cause Orders in the Eison and Harmon cases.

I. FACTS

To fully understand debtors’ interactions with the Semrad law firm, it is necessary to understand the structure of the office. Accordingly, the Court will first outline the structure of the Semrad law firm’s Atlanta office, then outline the facts of the Harmon and Eison cases. Finally, the Court will address the results of the U.S. Trustee’s investigation, as filed in the Eison case.

A. Semrad in Atlanta

Semrad is a Chicago-based law firm with an office in Atlanta. Attorneys at the Semrad firm appear to be divided into two groups based on seniority. More junior attorneys prepare petitions. More senior attorneys are “court attorneys” or “intake attorneys” who conduct initial interviews to determine whether a client would benefit from a bankruptcy filing and appear at court hearings. Both attorney groups receive base-line salaries with bonuses based on the number of petitions they file. The annual base salary is $40,000 for junior associates and $50,000 for court attorneys. Each group receives monthly bonuses of $25 per case filed, but a court attorney’s bonuses are dependent on whether that attorney filed a minimum of 25 petitions that month. Thus, if a court attorney files 24 petitions in a month, she receives no bonus. If a court attorney files 25 petitions in a month, she receives a bonus of $625 for that month.

Semrad’s Atlanta office has sixteen attorneys. The managing partner for Sem-rad’s Atlanta location is Craig Z. Black. Mr. Black oversees the day-to-day operations of the Atlanta office and assists attorneys with court appearances. Mr. Black has been practicing law in Illinois since 2002 and was admitted to the Georgia bar in 2008. No attorney in the Atlanta office has been practicing law longer than Mr. Black. Mr. Black filed a notice of appearance in the Harmon case. (Harmon, Docket No. 15). Mr. Buff, who appeared in the Eison case, used to be a managing partner at Semrad, but is no longer associated with the firm.

Two other Semrad attorneys filed documents in the Harmon case: Ms. Hong and Ms. Jakob-Barnes. Ms. Hong was the junior attorney working on Ms. Harmon’s case. Ms. Hong was admitted to the Georgia bar in 2008 and has been working at Semrad since April of 2009. Prior to working at Semrad, Ms. Hong’s bankruptcy experience was limited to a debtor-creditor relations course in law school. Ms. Hong’s legal practice before working at Semrad was limited to contract work on worker’s compensation claims. Ms. Hong’s bankruptcy training at Semrad consisted of sitting with two senior attorneys, Brien Nelson and Harold Boone, when she first started the job. 1 Ms. Ja-kob-Barnes was a court attorney involved in the Harmon case. Ms. Jakob-Barnes was admitted to the Georgia bar in October of 2007 and was employed at Semrad for May through December of 2009.

*762 B. The Harmon Case

This case initially came to the Court’s attention when Ms. Harmon filed a letter stating that she never authorized the filing of her case. (Harmon, Docket No. 16). A voluntary Chapter 13 petition was filed on Ms. Harmon’s behalf on September 18, 2009, which included her electronic signature, declaring under penalty of perjury the veracity of the petition. All schedules, the statement of financial affairs, Ms. Harmon’s pay advices, Disclosure of Compensation, and statement of current monthly income were also filed on September 18, 2009. Additionally, a Notice of Consumer Debtor under § 342(b), Verification of Creditor Matrix, Declaration Concerning Debtor’s Schedules, and a Chapter 13 Plan were filed with Ms. Harmon’s electronic signature. The case was dismissed on October 14, 2009, following a Voluntary Motion to Dismiss filed on Ms. Harmon’s behalf. (Harmon, Docket No. 12). On January 27, 2010, Ms. Harmon filed a letter with the Court alleging that the above-styled Chapter 13 case was filed without her authorization or consent. (Harmon, Docket No. 16). As a result of the Court’s grave concern regarding the filing of a petition and other pleadings without the client’s authorized written consent, the Court directed Ms. Harmon and each of the filing attorneys to appear at a show cause hearing on February 25, 2010. The following facts were found at that hearing.

Ms. Harmon came to Semrad’s offices on September 9, 2009, for what she believed would be a consultation. She initially met with an intake attorney, Brien Nelson, whose job was to evaluate whether Ms. Harmon’s situation was appropriate for a bankruptcy filing and under what chapter to file. 2 After meeting with Mr. Nelson, Ms. Harmon spent two hours with Ms. Hong, who prepared Ms. Harmon’s petition and discussed her initial payment to Semrad. Ms. Hong and Ms. Harmon determined that she would pay Semrad the initial filing fee in two installments. She paid half the fee via a check dated September 9, 2009, and half the fee via a check post-dated to September 18, 2009. Ms. Hong explained to Ms. Harmon that they would gather information and prepare her petition in the intervening days, so that the petition could be filed when her check was cashed. Ms. Harmon understood that the case would not be filed until she gave “the final say-so.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
435 B.R. 758, 2010 WL 3377707, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-harmon-ganb-2010.