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Saturday, October 01, 2005
Ind. Courts - Estate of former Johnson County juvenile court magistrate sued
The Shelbyville News is reporting today:
The estate of Craig Lawson, a 1986 graduate of Shelbyville High School and former Johnson County juvenile court magistrate, has been named in a lawsuit filed by Robert and Darlene Garvey of Greenwood in Johnson County Superior Court.Lawson, 36, died of an apparent suicide on Jan. 27 with a gunshot wound to the head, and the Garveys have filed a claim against his estate.
The suit, filed on Sept. 16, alleges that Lawson was representing the Garveys in a lawsuit against Terrell Presley as the result of an automobile wreck in October 1997. When Lawson accepted his juvenile court judge position in the fall of 1999, he was barred from practicing law, but he did not inform the Garveys.
Instead, Lawson is accused of entering into an agreement with Johnson County attorney J. Andrew Woods in which Woods was to act as the Garveys’ attorney and remit the proceeds of any settlement of the claim to Lawson for disposition. Robert Garvey, however, says that he was never informed of the agreement and was told by Lawson that he would continue to represent him.
In December 1999, attorney Woods accepted a settlement of the Garveys’ injury claim from Presley’s insurance company, which agreed to pay $50,000. The check was sent to Woods along with a release to be signed by Robert Garvey.
The lawsuit claims that Woods endorsed the back of the settlement check himself and gave the check to Lawson. Lawson is then said to have forged Robert Garvey’s signature on the check and deposited it into his own checking account. Lawson then allegedly sent a release to Presley’s insurance company and his lawyer with a forged signature.
From the fall of 1999 to the end of 2004, the lawsuit claims that Lawson concealed the wrongdoing by continuing to advise the Garveys verbally and in writing that he was still their lawyer, that the case was still pending in court and he was close to negotiating a settlement of the claim.
The Garveys didn’t learn until March 2005 that their lawsuit in the automobile accident had been settled.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 1, 2005 12:07 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts