This could be a combo platter of the reduced business in law firms and of an ego that already had its problems. The result, after a "Criminal Minds" type investigation, could be prison and loss of a law license. More likely, my gut tells me, it'll be one of those lawyer suicides staged a la Willy Loman so that the world will take account.
Yesterday, as I spoke to the powers-that-be at Tarrant Company on the West Coast - e.g. Rick Mok - I repeated a number of times: If the evidence points in the direction of this lawyer, you bet, I will file charges. Like every vendor who has been allegedly played with, I'm angry. If there is an arrest, I will blast the story over the web. If there is a trial - unlikely - I will fly out to cover it, of course on my own dime. Weeks ago I had mailed them the check I had received and the envelope it had come in. Yeah, I know my CSI.
The story began, as an increasing number of bizarre situations are, on Craigslist. A Manhattan attorney put in a help-wanted for a ghostwriter. I replied. He replied back. His plan, which he articulated with great confidence, was to produce a book on a certain niche topic [Menschen tracht und Gott Lacht]. He would sell it for $70 at seminars he gave on the subject. The attendees would be lawyers needing Continuing Education Credits. During our first phone call - and this should have been the red flag - he noted that his book would reflect the best aspects of famous authors on subjects of how we think, decide and so on. The last two people who started out their journey to publishing a book in that manner never made it there.
I stayed in the process. Exact same mistake the character in my novel does and winds up murdered. The next step , before we decided to work together or not, was his emailing me hundreds of pages which he had already written about the subject. Perhaps much of it could be salvaged and recycled into a book. Popped eyes, and a plunging to the floor jaw. I only needed to print out one document. No focused thought, extreme wordiness, no value created in the over-crowded book market.
"Are you bipolar?' That's exactly what I asked him when he rang me up to find out how much more than he had sent me would I need. He wasn't listening when I informed him he didn't have a book, never mind a marketable one. There was no way to end this but to brutally inform that he was wasting his money and hope hiring me as a ghostwriter. There was no book there. He seemed incapable of producing a book working with me. I hung up. Within minutes, he called back. Second mistake: Continuing the conversation. Incidentally, he was clueless how he would get this $70-in-retail book published and marketed.
I stayed in a bit longer, which is way too long. Finally, I just dropped him - gently I thought. And for good. Wrong. In these situations, you indicate in writing that if the person contacts us again it will be treated as harassment.
I sense he did not go gently into the night. He was supposed to pay me, had we worked together, $3500 monthly for a year. A few weeks later I received a check for $3500 paid by Tarrant. The check was in an envelope, with the sender's address manually written in as someone in the state of Washington, and postmarked Atlanta, Georgia. There was no note as to why I was receiving this money.
Of course I went to my bank, Bank of America, to find out if the check was valid. "We doubt that since there was no letter. Call the company." I called the company. It had no record of issuing the check. However, it had been through some financial transactions which might have required a law firm with securities expertise. Those lawyers usually can cut checks. This particular lawyer's specialty was, or so he told me, securities law.
He was - if he's still there - new at his law firm. I wonder what happened at the job before that one. Legal work regarding securities has been down in the Manhattan area. I provided Mr. Mok at Tarrant with the name and contact information for what I perceive to be a person of interest.
Lesson 1: Go with your gut. Yes, this whole enchilada has been traumatic. Most of it could have been avoided had I just trusted my instincts about this very nervous guy.
Lesson 2: Never ever ever again read or answer any help-wanted on Craigslist.
Yeah, CL is always a scary place to answer an ad. I've had my own scary experiences from it.
Posted by: Joe | December 30, 2009 at 03:03 PM