Appeals court reverses an inexplicable ruling

Richard D. Goldberg of Youngstown, once a leading malpractice lawyer in the state of Ohio and now an inmate in the Mahoning County jail, admitted to defrauding 23 clients out of $4.5 million. Yet, Judge Thomas A. Swift of the Trumbull County Probate Court ruled that this morally corrupt individual was owed $315,000 in legal fees and $78,966 in expenses from one of the cases that landed him in federal prison for 45 months.
Fortunately, Judge Swift's inexplicable ruling on Goldberg's behalf has been overturned by the 11th District Court of Appeals.
"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 appeals court ruling states. "Thus, ordering [Timothy] Fraelich to pay the federal restitution fund that Goldberg is required to provide would work a great inequity on Fraelich, while unjustly enriching Goldberg."
Timothy Fraelich is the son of the Paul Fraelich, who died in 1994 after coronary artery bypass surgery. Goldberg was hired by the family to file a malpractice lawsuit. He won the Fraelich estate a $952,000 jury award in 1996, but handed over only $209,360. He kept $742,640 in checks from a Youngstown doctor and hospital.
And in a move that defines temerity, Goldberg demanded $500,000 in fees and $98,000 in expenses.
When Judge Swift ruled in February 2000 that this disbarred lawyer, who was in federal prison at the time, was eligible for $393,966 in fees and expenses, our reaction, like that of most Valley residents, was one of disbelief. We wondered what the judge could have been thinking. Talk about adding insult to injury.
As Timothy Fraelich put it after the 11th District court ruling, "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."
Serious crime
We share his gratification, but remain puzzled as to how easily some judges seem to ignore the seriousness of Goldberg's crime. Remember that his clients were individuals who believed they had suffered harm at the hands of their doctors or hospitals. Juries obviously believed they had been harmed because these plaintiffs had been awarded damages.
Never did the 23 clients dream that their lawyer, who did such a masterful job of representing them, would then turn around and virtually pick their pockets.
That is why in November 2003 we reacted with incredulity to the news that Goldberg was released from federal prison four months early because an assistant U.S. attorney and U.S. District Court Judge Aaron Polster believed he was deserving of a break as a result of his cooperating with authorities.
Now, Goldberg is trying to weasel his way out of his 21-month county jail sentence by accusing Mahoning County Probate Judge Timothy Maloney of holding a grudge against him. Judge Maloney sent Goldberg to jail for contempt of court on the grounds that the former lawyer concealed funds that he should have distributed to his former clients as part of his plea agreement.
Goldberg tried this "he doesn't like me" ploy in 1999, and an investigation by the Ohio Supreme Court found no basis for his complaints.
That he is again attempting to get a receptive ear in federal court goes to show just how willing he is to game the system.
He should be required to serve the entire 21 months and should also not get any breaks when he appears in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on the same charges that landed him in federal prison.
Goldberg deserves no sympathy and he certainly has not earned a break from the judicial system that he abused while in the practice of law.