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Avenatti Decided Where Client Funds Went, Ex-Employee Says
Law360, Santa Ana, Calif. (July 27, 2021, 9:37 PM EDT) A former paralegal for Eagan Avenatti LLP told the California federal jury in Michael Avenatti s embezzlement trial Tuesday that she handled client billing and money transfers for the firm, but that the suspended attorney decided what happened with the money, including putting it toward paying his ex-wife and his coffee business.
Judy Regnier, who worked as a paralegal and office manager for Avenatti s firm for about 11 years, told the jury that her duties included keeping track of costs and fees for the firm s cases, as well as handling money it received and cutting checks to pay its bills. She said.
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Avenatti Phased Junior Attys Out Of Settlements, Jury Told
Law360 (July 23, 2021, 10:54 PM EDT) An attorney who worked at Michael Avenatti s former law firm told a California federal jury that it was common for his boss to take over a case once it moved toward settling, including in a lawsuit where the suspended attorney stands accused of stealing millions from a paraplegic client s settlement.
Carlos X. Colorado of the X-Law Group testified that Avenatti was often closely involved in managing and overseeing cases Colorado handled at Eagan Avenatti LLP, but once it reached time to settle, Avenatti would fully take over and Colorado would never handle the disbursement of client funds or settlement negotiations..
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Alexis Gardner was living out of her car in West Hollywood when she hired Los Angeles lawyer Michael Avenatti in 2016 to reach a settlement with her ex-boyfriend, pro basketball player Hassan Whiteside.
Avenatti quickly cut a deal, but prosecutors say he stole Whiteside’s initial $2.75-million payment to Gardner and spent most of it on a private jet.
Avenatti covered up the theft, they say, by telling his client that Whiteside, then with the NBA’s Miami Heat, would send her monthly payments of $16,000 for eight years.
Gardner complained in a text to Avenatti more than a year later that Whiteside had fallen behind with the payments.
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