Lawyers Council jettisons member for allegedly cheating client

[webfact]

Lawyers Council jettisons member for allegedly cheating client
By The Nation

 

BANGKOK: -- The Lawyers Council of Thailand on Thursday stripped Pisit Sammalert’s name from its list of qualified practitioners for allegedly cheating a road-accident victim out of due compensation.

 

Council vice president Major Sombat Wongkamhaeng, who also chairs the Thai Bar’s committee on legal aid, said Pisit’s name was also struck from the list because he’d been declared insolvent in 2004. 

 

Council representatives accompanied Porntip Chantharat and her wheelchair-bound daughter Pattarada “Beam” Kaewpong to a Bangkok court on Thursday to file a civil lawsuit against Pisit for allegedly cheating them out of compensation following a 2005 road accident.

 

A truck crashed into a pickup carrying Porntip’s family, leaving her husband dead and both her and Pattarada seriously injured. 

Spinal injuries sustained in the accident force Pattarada to use a wheelchair. 

 

In 2014 a court ordered the truck’s owner to pay the family Bt4 million in compensation.

 

But Porntip alleges that Pisit, their lawyer, persuaded her to sign papers authorising him to handle all related matters, including collecting her monthly compensation payments, as a convenience to her. 

 

She ended up receiving just over Bt200,000. 

 

She lodged a complaint against the lawyer in 2015, but said he persuaded her to withdraw it by promising to give her Bt3 million, a promise he allegedly has not kept.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30320055

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-07-06

[ratcatcher]

So, they took Pisit off the lawyers list. Is that the same as being disbarred?

[colinneil]

Stripping his name is one thing, what about the girl getting her money?

[robblok]

16 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

So, they took Pisit off the lawyers list. Is that the same as being disbarred?

Sounds like it.. 

[robblok]

5 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Stripping his name is one thing, what about the girl getting her money?

That is not up to the lawyers council.. this is the punishment they can hand out. The rest is up to other organisations (maybe a court case)

[sweatalot]

10 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Stripping his name is one thing, what about the girl getting her money?

Does not look good - he's been declared insolvent

Edited July 6, 2017 by sweatalot

[darksidedog]

25 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

So, they took Pisit off the lawyers list. Is that the same as being disbarred?

That is correct.

I suspect the statute of limitations has run out on the criminal option, so a Civil case is the only option.

What concerns me  most with this case, is that in all of its reporting, not once has mention of this scumbags whereabouts been reported.

It's one thing to file a case here and quite another to expect the accused to actually turn up at court, as we have all seen.

I sincerely hope he is found and gets totally nailed for his utterly contemptible actions.

[worgeordie]

He was declared bankrupt in 2004 ,but took on the girl's case in 2005,

taken off the list is not the same as disbarred I don't think,when are

the Police going to be involved and arrest this piece of sh!t.

regards Worgeordie

[ratcatcher]

28 minutes ago, sweatalot said:

Does not look good - he's been declared insolvent

I would prefer to read that he had been found in solvent, about 45 gallons, actually.

[Bluespunk]

42 minutes ago, robblok said:

That is not up to the lawyers council.. this is the punishment they can hand out. The rest is up to other organisations (maybe a court case)

You'd think they'd have some sort of fund available to compensate victims of fraudsters amidst their ranks. 

 

Have to be a large fund though ...

[LazySlipper]

 

I once was told that Thailand has no fault insurance and that was one of the reasons that we have to pay tax on our plates every year. Anyone in the know?

 

Back home we have no fault insurance for the very purpose of avoiding litigation. 

[Cadbury]

That won't stop him from having his name and credentials in gold lettering on his office door and continuing to shakedown clients.

[webfact]

Lawyers Council dumps member for allegedly cheating client
By The Nation

 

 

BANGKOK: -- The Lawyers Council of Thailand yesterday stripped Pisit Sammalert’s name from its list of qualified practitioners for allegedly cheating a road-accident victim out of due compensation.

 

Council vice president Major Sombat Wongkamhaeng, who also chairs the Thai Bar’s committee on legal aid, said the name of the 59-year-old Pisit was struck from the list because he had been declared insolvent in 2004. 

 

After the registrar and Pisit are notified of the council’s resolution, Pisit will no longer be able to present himself as a lawyer or face punishment under the Lawyer Act, Sombat said. A friend of Pisit had contacted the council to say that Pisit would soon explain himself at a later unspecified date, he added.

 

Council representatives accompanied Porntip Chantharat and her wheelchair-bound daughter Pattarada “Beam” Kaewpong to a Bangkok court yesterday to file a civil lawsuit against Pisit for allegedly cheating them out of compensation following a 2005 road accident. A truck crashed into a pickup carrying Porntip’s family, leaving her husband dead and both her and Pattarada seriously injured. 

 

Spinal injuries sustained in the accident forced Pattarada to use a wheelchair. 

 

In 2014, a court ordered the truck’s owner to pay the family Bt4 million in compensation. But Porntip alleges that Pisit, their lawyer, persuaded her to sign papers authorising him to handle all related matters, including collecting her monthly compensation payments, as a convenience to her. She ended up receiving just over Bt200,000. 

 

She lodged a complaint against the lawyer in 2015, but said he persuaded her to withdraw it by promising to give her Bt3 million, a promise he allegedly has not kept.

 

Meanwhile, adviser to the national police chief, Pol General Weerachai Songmetta, joined with the Criminal Reporters and Photographers Association of Thailand and the Factory Police Association to present Bt200,000 cash to Pattarada for her scholarship and expenses in her court battle. The girl thanked Weerachai and the two associations for their help and said she wanted to become a news reporter so she could help others.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30320097

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-07-07

[tomwct]

A lawyer is more like a Notary in Thailand. The judges run the court room, but I would assume this guy committed a Theft why not file criminal charges?

[Artisi]

17 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

So, they took Pisit off the lawyers list. Is that the same as being disbarred?

It's more like an inactive post... 

[SOTIRIOS]

....anyone else suffered at the hands of their attorney....???

 

...had any results....???

 

....been trying for 2 years...ended up being sued....

 

...council made near to impossible to proceed through all that time...

 

...then he was alerted of my intention....somehow....

 

...and took action first....

 

...is it because I am 'farang'.....???

 

 

[Artisi]

17 hours ago, colinneil said:

Stripping his name is one thing, what about the girl getting her money?

Oh! you mean there was a reason why we stripped his name..... 

[Juan B Tong]

OMG,  this happen in Thailand?

[loong]

18 hours ago, sweatalot said:

Does not look good - he's been declared insolvent

He was declared insolvent in 2004, the compensation was awarded in 2014. So his insolvency in 2004 has no bearing on whether he has the money now.

[loong]

18 hours ago, darksidedog said:

That is correct.

I suspect the statute of limitations has run out on the criminal option, so a Civil case is the only option.

What concerns me  most with this case, is that in all of its reporting, not once has mention of this scumbags whereabouts been reported.

It's one thing to file a case here and quite another to expect the accused to actually turn up at court, as we have all seen.

I sincerely hope he is found and gets totally nailed for his utterly contemptible actions.

How long is the statute of limitations? He stole the money 3 years ago.

[PoorSucker]

A lawyer is more like a Notary in Thailand. The judges run the court room, but I would assume this guy committed a Theft why not file criminal charges?

The mother did, but the lawyer promised her he will give her the money so she withdraw the complaint, Thai law stipulate that you can not file charges twice.

Fool me once, following me twice... No criminal charges.

[jacko45k]

Good move, it should be more widely practiced. There would be no lawyers left and maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing.

[hanuman2543]

4 hours ago, SOTIRIOS said:

....anyone else suffered at the hands of their attorney....???

 

...had any results....???

 

....been trying for 2 years...ended up being sued....

 

...council made near to impossible to proceed through all that time...

 

...then he was alerted of my intention....somehow....

 

...and took action first....

 

...is it because I am 'farang'.....???

 

 

I have some experience.  You can pm me if you want.

[billd766]

22 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

So, they took Pisit off the lawyers list. Is that the same as being disbarred?

 

According to the other paper he was disbarred effectively going back to 2004.

[PETERTHEEATER]

Note the photograph in the header. The Civil Court has no disabled access and two men had to carry the wheelchair-bound girl up a flight of steps to gain entry.

[spidermike007]

Pisit Sammalert is a worm. Punish the worm. So glad they called him out by name. What an unusual move. Usually these coward criminals are protected by defamation laws. Let us hope he is punished, and this family are able to recover this money.

 

The very idea of a lawyer being held accountable here, is quite amazing. Maybe the crime was just too heinous for the council to ignore? 

[mercman24]

i bet he has got a nice house paid for by ill gotten gains, take that off him, if they can seize houses and cars off people without a case coming to court i can see no problem with that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

him to pay this poor girl.