Business Fraud Lawyers Serving All of California from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area, from Orange County to San Jose, Serving Victims of Business Fraud from San Diego to Sacramento. We Are Trial Lawyers for the Broad Range of Contract Fraud and Breach of Contract, Fraudulent Transactions, Investment Fraud, Real Estate Fraud and Medical Fraud Serving our Clients on an Hourly Basis or Contingency Fee.
Our California business fraud lawyers will consider representing both business clients and individual victims of business fraud in the broadest range of contexts involving misrepresentation inducing the victim's reliance and consequent significant damages, perhaps most commonly in the context of contractual agreements, fraudulent transactions, real estate fraud, investment fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets, billing fraud and false claims, consumer loan fraud and unfair business practices, breach of contract; even professional or medical and drug fraud resulting in monetary loss or injury or forbearance in obtaining appropriate professional or medical care. Our lawyers were, for example, responsible for the first AIDS medical fraud case in the United States.Our California business fraud lawyers will consider representing victims of fraud on an hourly basis, contingency fee or mixed hourly and contingent fee basis. Our business fraud attorneys will consider fraud cases arising throughout the state of California, from San Diego to Sacramento, from Orange County and San Bernardino to Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Fresno, San Jose and Santa Clara County, the Silicone Valley, and Palo Alto.
Attorney Henke and his law firm are "AV" rated by Martindale and Hubbell, the highest lawyer legal ability rating ("A") and highest attorney ethical standards rating ("V") awarded by the most highly respected lawyer ranking directory in the United States. The ratings are determined based on interviews with judges before whom the lawyer has practiced and interviews with other prominent lawyers knowledgeable about the attorney's legal ability and ethical standards. The "A" in "AV" is defined as "very high to preeminent" in "legal ability," and the "V" stands for "very high" "general ethical standards. According to Martindale & Hubbell: "AV Peer Review Rating — shows that a lawyer has reached the height of professional excellence. He or she has usually practiced law for many years, and is recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity." Attorney Henke is recognized as one of the "Top Lawyers in America," a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, commonly referred to as "the most prestigious group of trial lawyers in the United States." He is a former Governor of the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association and Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles. Business law affiliate lawyer Nick Allis is a former President of the Beverly Hills Bar Association. Free Business Fraud Attorney Case Consultation. If you or your business has been the victim of fraud, our attorneys welcome you to contact us for a free case evaluation. Simply fill out the contact form and describe the nature of your case, and one of our business fraud lawyers will call you to discuss the facts of your case and provide our case evaluation.
Our Business Fraud Lawyers Provide an Overview of the Law of Misrepresentation and Fraud.
Business fraud lawyers represent a broad variety of clients, from business to individuals, defrauded in a wide variety of contexts in which the issues may be very different, including specific applicable statutes, and jury instructions, but there are common elements of fraud which can be discussed in the abstract, and then commonly applied most cases. However the reader must recognize that this is a subject in which the evaluation of a case should not be attempted without the advice and counsel of a qualified California business fraud lawyer knowledgeable about the law, including the applicable statutes and appellate case law interpreting the common law elements and pertinent statutes. As an example, there are scores of jury instructions that business fraud lawyers will review and submit some but not others to the Court at trial to inform the jury of the law governing a particular case. Business lawyers will evaluate the applicability to the case of standard jury instructions, including "intentional misrepresentation," "concealment," "false promise," "negligent misrepresentation," "opinions as statements of fact," "definition of important fact or promise," "misrepresentations made to persons other than the plaintiff," "reliance," "reasonable reliance." And then more specific types of jury instructions that the business fraud lawyer may consider in the particular case, such as "buyers damages for purchase or acquisition of property," and "lost profits," "seller's damages for sale or exchange of property, "damages - out of pocket rule," "damages - benefit-of-the-bargain rule" among others.
Generally speaking, as business fraud lawyers commonly think through the basic elements of common law fraud, as the elements would apply in the ordinary fraud case, the inquiry begins with whether there has been a representation of some existing fact, and then the materiality of the fact, whether the asserted fact was false, whether the party making the representation of fact intended that it be relied upon or acted upon by the plaintiff, the plaintiff's ignorance of the falsity of the fact, the plaintiff's reliance on the truth of the representation, whether in the circumstances the plaintiff had a right to rely upon the representation, and then the inquiry into the damages the plaintiff as suffered as the result of his reliance upon the misrepresentation.
As business lawyers will recognize, the words used in the above paragraph also have specific meaning in the law. For example, the term "material fact" as a business fraud attorney would read it, means a fact that would have affected the judgment of the plaintiff party to the transaction, and it must be of sufficient importance that a reasonable person would have been likely to rely on it. Generally speaking it cannot be a statement of mere opinion or prediction or speculation, as examples. "Reliance" in the context in which business lawyers are evaluating a fraud cause of action, means that the plaintiff would not have taken the action or refrained from acting, had the defendant not made the representation of material fact, although the representation need not be the only reason for the plaintiff's action. And hopefully not to confuse the reader, business fraud lawyers also recognize that there may be other means of establishing the fraud action, such as silent fraud, where the defendant failed to disclose a material fact or facts. In such cases, the business fraud attorney would consider whether the defendant failed to disclose a material fact or facts, whether the defendant had actual knowledge of the facts, whether the failure to disclose the facts led the plaintiff to a false understanding with regard to the material facts, whether, at the time the defendant knew his failure to disclose the fact, he knew that the failure would lead to the false understanding, and intended that the plaintiff rely on the false understanding, and then, whether the plaintiff relied on the false understanding, acting in reliance thereon and was damaged as the result. And then, the business fraud lawyer may consider that in certain contractual contexts in particular it may be difficult to prove intent to defraud and may consider alleging a cause of action for innocent misrepresentation, or other potential causes of action, and indeed the business fraud lawyer's analysis of the facts of any particular case may lead to the framing of multiple alternative causes of action.
As just one example of an uncommon fraud case, attorney Henke successfully obtained a multi-million dollar jury verdict against unscrupulous physicians and a hospital for conspiracy to defraud their desperate and vulnerable AIDS and cancer patients with quack treatments, inducing them to forego the standard of care FDA approved prescription pharmaceuticals, resulting in the untreated advancement of their diseases and premature deaths. In recognition of attorney Henke's extraordinary success in that case he was nominated "Trial Lawyer of the Year" by LATLA , the fifth largest trial lawyer association in the United States, and was invited by the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives to testify before a Congressional subcommittee specifically about health care fraud.
Our Business Fraud Lawyers Invite You To Contact Us For A Free Consultation. Our Business Fraud Attorneys Will Consider Representing Victims of Fraud Throughout The State of California, From San Diego to Sacramento, from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area, from Orange County to San Jose. Our business fraud lawyers welcome you to contact us for a free consultation. Simply fill out the business fraud contact form providing us with a quick synopsis of your case and one of our business fraud attorneys will contact you to provide a free consultation. Our business fraud lawyers welcome you to contact us with regard to actions arising throughout California, from San Diego to San Bernardino and Orange County, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Fresno, San Jose and Santa Clara, Palo Alto, the Silicone Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland, Berkeley, and Sacramento.
Our Business Fraud Lawyers Will Consider Representing Victims of Fraud on an Hourly or Contingency Fee Basis, or, Mixed Hourly and Contingency Fee Basis.
As our business fraud lawyers recognize, there are advantages for some clients in obtaining representation on an hourly fee basis, and other clients may be better served on a contingency fee bases depending upon a variety of factors are discussed on our attorneys fees page. The attorneys fee basis upon which the lawyer serves his client is entirely a matter of contract, although in some cases, the maximum fee is set by statute, such as in medical fraud cases against health care providers. Our California business fraud contingency fee lawyers provide the client the option of engaging them on a contingency fee basis or mixed hourly and contingency fee basis where the client considers that it is preferable to him.
*Most recent Jury Verdict or Settlement:
$2,700,000.00 jury verdict in a medical and hospital fraud case. Mr. Henke tried the cases of five clients in one consolidated 4 month trial against multiple defendant physicians and a hospital that conspired to defraud his clients with phony AIDS cures, misrepresenting that their "drugs" and remedidies were effective modalities that would cure them of AIDS. The primary physician defendant misrepresented that AIDS was not caused by HIV, rather that it was caused by disturbances in the patients "organ frequencies and "toxin frequencies" which the doctor claimed he could measure with a black box. The representation was false, as there are no such thing as organ frequencies, and obviously AIDS is indeed cause by the HIV retrovirus. The physician first claimed that he could cure the patients organ and toxin frequency disturbances, and hence, their AIDS, by thrice weekly injections of typhoid vaccine, and then, when that failed, with a FDDA unapproved "drug" concocted in another physician's unsterile bath house sink. When the shots proved painful, and resulted in necrotic lumps at the sites of the infections, the physician engaged another defendant surgeon to implant hickman catheters into the entrance of the 40 patients hearts for infusion of the drug, taking over the hospital's surgical suites for multiple days. It was established that the hospital was aware of the physicians quack practices over the years preceding the assembly line hickman catheter surgeries, including in his improper treatment of pneumocistis carinnii pnemonia, and AIDS opportunistic disease, with Vitamin C, and his use of the black box on the Immune Supressed Unit. The hospital also destoryed the records of all 40 hickman catheter recipiants which would confirmed the physician's statements that the hospital had agreed to provide discounts for the surgeries. The patients accepted the office treatments and hickman catheter surgeries, and the then consented to the infusion of the unsterile drug, Viroxan, into their hearts, in reliance upon the physician's misrepresentations that this would cure their AIDS, and upon their judgment that the hospital's discounts for the surgeries were a endorsement of the treatments.
A stellar cast of experts were called by Henke to testify in the case, including Luc Montagnier, the French scientist who discovered the HIV retrovirus, and heads up France's National AIDS Laboratories, Michaeil Gotlieb, the physician who first discovered AIDS and co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS research, Don Francis, the epidemiologist who headed up the Center for Disease Control's first AIDS task force, and discovered that AIDS was a sexually transmitted disease, Roger Detels, the epidemiologist who was the lead scientist in charge of the largest study on the effiacty of AIDS pharmaceuticals, and 20 others of the most highly regarded AIDS scientists, Hospital Administrators, and other experts.
The jury found that the physician was guilty of fraud and that the hospital was guilty of conspiracy to defraud the five patients brought to trial in the case.
Mr. Henke was nominated "Trial Lawyer of the Year" by the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association for his work and trial of that case, and he testified before Congress at the invitation of the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives on the subject of medical fraud.
The case was liberally followed by the legitimate news media nationally, including a front page article in the New York Times, a front page article in the Los Angeles Times, among other respected newspapers from the Washingon Post to the San Francisco Chronical and Examiner. Henke also appeared on national television, including Tom Brokaw's NBC Nightly News and CNN in his endeavor to alert the public to the plight of AIDS paitents susceptible to medical fraud.
*The results obtained in the cases listed were dependent upon the facts of the cases, and the results will differ in other cases based on different facts
$2,700,000.00 jury verdict in a medical and hospital fraud case. Mr. Henke tried the cases of five clients in one consolidated 4 month trial against multiple defendant physicians and a hospital that conspired to defraud his clients with phony AIDS cures, misrepresenting that their "drugs" and remedidies were effective modalities that would cure them of AIDS. The primary physician defendant misrepresented that AIDS was not caused by HIV, rather that it was caused by disturbances in the patients "organ frequencies and "toxin frequencies" which the doctor claimed he could measure with a black box. The representation was false, as there are no such thing as organ frequencies, and obviously AIDS is indeed cause by the HIV retrovirus. The physician first claimed that he could cure the patients organ and toxin frequency disturbances, and hence, their AIDS, by thrice weekly injections of typhoid vaccine, and then, when that failed, with a FDDA unapproved "drug" concocted in another physician's unsterile bath house sink. When the shots proved painful, and resulted in necrotic lumps at the sites of the infections, the physician engaged another defendant surgeon to implant hickman catheters into the entrance of the 40 patients hearts for infusion of the drug, taking over the hospital's surgical suites for multiple days. It was established that the hospital was aware of the physicians quack practices over the years preceding the assembly line hickman catheter surgeries, including in his improper treatment of pneumocistis carinnii pnemonia, and AIDS opportunistic disease, with Vitamin C, and his use of the black box on the Immune Supressed Unit. The hospital also destoryed the records of all 40 hickman catheter recipiants which would confirmed the physician's statements that the hospital had agreed to provide discounts for the surgeries. The patients accepted the office treatments and hickman catheter surgeries, and the then consented to the infusion of the unsterile drug, Viroxan, into their hearts, in reliance upon the physician's misrepresentations that this would cure their AIDS, and upon their judgment that the hospital's discounts for the surgeries were a endorsement of the treatments.
A stellar cast of experts were called by Henke to testify in the case, including Luc Montagnier, the French scientist who discovered the HIV retrovirus, and heads up France's National AIDS Laboratories, Michaeil Gotlieb, the physician who first discovered AIDS and co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS research, Don Francis, the epidemiologist who headed up the Center for Disease Control's first AIDS task force, and discovered that AIDS was a sexually transmitted disease, Roger Detels, the epidemiologist who was the lead scientist in charge of the largest study on the effiacty of AIDS pharmaceuticals, and 20 others of the most highly regarded AIDS scientists, Hospital Administrators, and other experts.
The jury found that the physician was guilty of fraud and that the hospital was guilty of conspiracy to defraud the five patients brought to trial in the case.
Mr. Henke was nominated "Trial Lawyer of the Year" by the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association for his work and trial of that case, and he testified before Congress at the invitation of the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives on the subject of medical fraud.
The case was liberally followed by the legitimate news media nationally, including a front page article in the New York Times, a front page article in the Los Angeles Times, among other respected newspapers from the Washingon Post to the San Francisco Chronical and Examiner. Henke also appeared on national television, including Tom Brokaw's NBC Nightly News and CNN in his endeavor to alert the public to the plight of AIDS paitents susceptible to medical fraud.
*The results obtained in the cases listed were dependent upon the facts of the cases, and the results will differ in other cases based on different facts
Bernard "Bernie" Madoff, is the admitted operator of a Ponzi scheme that might be "the largest investment fraud in Wall Street history." Madoff founded the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960, and was its chairman until his arrest on December 11, 2008. The firm was one of the top market maker businesses on Wall Street.
Madoff's scheme unraveled after he confided in his sons that the massive asset management arm of his firm was a massive Ponzi fraud. On December 10, 2008, Madoff's sons told authorities quoting Madoff as saying it was "one big lie." FBI agents arrested Madoff the next day and charged him with one count of securities fraud. There has been widespread criticism that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which had conducted numerous investigations into Madoff's business practices, incompetently handled the investigations.
Madoff pled guilty to 11 felony counts and admitted that his wealth management business of a Ponzi scheme, in which he defrauded thousands of investors. It is unclear whether the Ponzi scheme began in the early 90s and Madoff contended or began as early as the 1980s. It is also not clearly known as of the time of this post the full extent of the funds Madoff may have bilked from his investors. Estimates range from 18 bilion to 65 billion.
In Mark of 2009 Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison, which was the maximum term allowed.
Madoff's scheme unraveled after he confided in his sons that the massive asset management arm of his firm was a massive Ponzi fraud. On December 10, 2008, Madoff's sons told authorities quoting Madoff as saying it was "one big lie." FBI agents arrested Madoff the next day and charged him with one count of securities fraud. There has been widespread criticism that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which had conducted numerous investigations into Madoff's business practices, incompetently handled the investigations.
Madoff pled guilty to 11 felony counts and admitted that his wealth management business of a Ponzi scheme, in which he defrauded thousands of investors. It is unclear whether the Ponzi scheme began in the early 90s and Madoff contended or began as early as the 1980s. It is also not clearly known as of the time of this post the full extent of the funds Madoff may have bilked from his investors. Estimates range from 18 bilion to 65 billion.
In Mark of 2009 Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison, which was the maximum term allowed.
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