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Thomas F. Maffei quoted in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on SJC disbarment of personal injury lawyer

Thomas F. Maffei, senior counsel in the firm’s Litigation Department, was quoted in a Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article titled, “SJC affirms disbarment of personal injury lawyer.”

This article discusses a case in which an attorney, while representing a child who had been hit by a car, was sent PIP funds amounting to $8,000. He deposited the funds into his IOLTA account and used them for personal expenses. Although he replaced the funds, he was ultimately disbarred by the SJC for his misuse of them.

From the article:

Thomas F. Maffei of Boston, who teaches professional responsibility at Boston College Law School, said he was struck by how comprehensive the opinion was for a case that involved a relatively small sum of money destined to go to medical providers and not the client herself.

“I liken client funds to the third rail: You touch them and bad things happen,” said Maffei, who was not involved in the case. “The fact that this got the lawyer disbarred highlights how serious the misuse of client funds is.”

Click here to read the full article in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (subscriber-only content).