TRUMBULL COUNTY Goldberg must forfeit fees, court rules

The case has been remanded to the county probate court.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The 11th District Court of Appeals says a probate court judge erred when granting fees to former lawyer Richard D. Goldberg.
In its decision released Monday, the appellate court ruled that Goldberg was not entitled to attorney's fees involving the estate of Paul D. Fraelich.
The case has been sent back to Trumbull County Probate Court. It is not known when a hearing will be held on the matter.
"I'm very gratified that in my father's memory there will be a court opinion that if you are a lawyer and steal from your clients you forfeit your fee," said Timothy Fraelich, Paul Fraelich's son.
Goldberg, 54, who is now disbarred, won the Paul D. Fraelich estate a $952,000 jury award in 1996, but he failed to forward $742,640 in checks from a Youngstown doctor and hospital to the family. Fraelich died in 1994 after coronary artery bypass surgery.
Goldberg, who is serving prison time, sought $500,000 in fees and $98,000 in expenses.
Probate court order
In a February 2000 judgment entry in probate court, Judge Thomas A. Swift ordered that Goldberg be paid $315,000 in legal fees and $78,966 in expenses. The judge ordered that the money must be deposited in the Goldberg Restitution Fund in U.S. District Court in Akron.
The Fraelich family appealed the decision.
"Since Goldberg permanently concealed and retained more than the amount of attorney fees the trial court determined were reasonable, Goldberg's fees had been paid in full," the appeal court ruling states. "Thus, ordering Fraelich to pay the federal restitution fund that Goldberg is required to provide would work a great inequity on Fraelich, while unjustly enriching Goldberg."
Goldberg pleaded guilty in August 1999 in federal court to seven counts of mail fraud and one count of bank fraud. He also admitted defrauding 23 clients out of $4.5 million.
A federal investigation started when Timothy Fraelich became suspicious about the jury award. Goldberg had told him the money wouldn't be available until after an appeal of the case concluded.
The estate received $266,188 in May directly from Western Reserve Care System; the money did not go through Goldberg's hands. In June, a check for $176,496 went to the estate from Goldberg through his lawyer, Vindicator files show.