A recent Law.com story, “Disbarment Urged for Lawyer Who Billed Fake Clients” reports that the New Jersey Disciplinary Review Board (DRB) is recommending disbarment for a lawyer who manufactured fake billings for nonexistent clients, first at Fox Rothschild and then at Margolis Edelstein.  The board found that Kenneth Denti violated ethics rules against fraud by drawing a salary while pretending he had done $350,000 worth of work and submitting phony expense reports. 

According to the DRB, Denti was a contract partner at Fox Rothschild with a salary of about $200,000.  He brought work with him, or so Fox Rothschild thought when it saw time sheets he entered for clients listing services rendered.  The law firm became suspicious when he submitted no invoices for payment.  An internal Fox Rothschild investigation showed that Denti’s clients didn’t exist and he was told to leave after 14 months.   Fox Rothschild then filed a confidential grievance with the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics.  But because the grievance was confidential, Denti was able to continue the fraud at Margolis Edelstein.  Later, Margolis Edelstein found out Denti left Fox Rothschild under and cloud and filed its own grievance with the state.