No problem. Got a car? Jewelry?

4/23/13
Attorney fees: Some lawyers accept bartered goods - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
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Hom e > News > Pa l m Bea ch Cou n t y News
Surprising ways cash-strapped clients
offer to pay their attorneys
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No money to pay your lawyer? No problem. Got a car? Jewelry? Something
else to trade? Some lawyers will accept the goods as legal tender.
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Clients who have run out of cash have offered these goods and services to pay their South Florida
lawyers' bills. (April 19, 2013)
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-attorney-fees-no-cash-20130420,0,1047483.story
1/5
4/23/13
Attorney fees: Some lawyers accept bartered goods - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
By Paula McMahon, Sun Sentinel
9:44 p.m. EDT, April 20, 2013
Next LeBron James is only 14 ye…
WPIX - New York Apr 22, 2013
Furs, guns, jewelry, a whole lot of boats and fancy cars, a
hotel, an army tank, a ranch in Wyoming, a herd of cattle
in Venezuela, a tray of lasagna, two Y orkie dogs and a
lifetime supply of live bait.
Related
Clients find creative ways to
pay their legal bills
All offered as payment to South Florida lawyers by clients
who ran out of cash.
No property to give? Not to worry — there's always the
bartering of personal services. Like the accused fraudster
who offered to serve as a nanny for her attorney's kids. Or
the guy accused of posing as a lawyer who offered to work
as a paralegal. And yes, everyone has heard tell of some
other lawyer being offered sexual favors or drugs to cover
the legal tab.
It's the nature of the business that defendants facing
criminal charges sometimes run low on money and can't
afford their legal bills. Some lawyers drop clients who fall
behind on their payments, but many say they will always
try to figure something out.
"I've had clients offer me all kinds of things," said Fred
Schwartz, a Boca Raton lawyer. He recently accepted a
white 1977 Rolls-Royce from Rose Marks, a Fort
Lauderdale fortune teller he's defending against fraud
and other charges. The luxury automobile was one of
dozens of items seized by federal agents when Marks was
arrested in 2011 but Schwartz convinced authorities that
the car wasn't bought with tainted money.
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"Rose said 'If you can get my property back from the government, I'll give you the RollsRoyce as a gift. I got her property back and she gave me the 1977 Rolls-Royce. She intended it
as a gift, however I've included it in my [income] taxes as a fee payment because I think the
government would see it that way," Schwartz said.
The one offer that really sticks in Schwartz's mind came in the late 1980s when his firm
represented a man accused of fraud. The client ran up a $400,000 bill with Schwartz and his
partners, then asked if they'd accept an old, rundown Art Deco hotel he was refurbishing.
"We said 'No, we'd rather you pay us the cash,'" Schwartz said, and they eventually recouped
about $300,000.
Turns out the property the client offered was The Tides hotel on South Beach's Ocean Drive,
which Schwartz said later sold for $5 million and was part of the area's major comeback.
How did that make him and his partners feel? "Stupid," he said.
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Eric Schwartzreich, a Fort Lauderdale defense attorney, feels better about two offers he
declined: diamonds that turned out to be fake when he had them appraised before signing the
contract, and an army tank offered by a man accused of being an illegal arms dealer.
"I think he was serious, but I didn't take the case and I didn't take the tank," Schwartzreich
said. "I didn't know where to park it; I didn't think it would fit in my garage."
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Jason Kreiss, a defense lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, said he's had multiple offers of child care
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-attorney-fees-no-cash-20130420,0,1047483.story
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4/23/13
Attorney fees: Some lawyers accept bartered goods - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
from people charged with a variety of offenses — "none of which my wife, the prosecutor,
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A herd of cattle in Venezuela is one of the most unusual offers Kreiss has rejected. He also
turned down a boat from a guy accused of stealing boats and declined the offer of paralegal
services from the guy who pleaded guilty to impersonating an attorney.
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But there's one case where Kreiss happily took the bait.
"As a diehard offshore fisherman, my best offer was free live bait for life," Kreiss said. Every
time he sets off to fish, a grateful client happily loads him up with bait — payback for a plea
agreement Kreiss negotiated when the man was charged with grand theft of pilchards.
Jim Lewis, another Fort Lauderdale lawyer, said his clients have offered him fur coats and
furry creatures.
"I took dogs one time — two adorable little Y orkies — and gave them away as gifts," Lewis
said. "In the old days, I'd take all kinds of things. I had enough jewelry to start my own pawn
shop. Sometimes you take it to hold it hostage in the hope they like the item enough to come
back for it and pay you." He said he now tries to make people pay up front.
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Several local lawyers — none of whom would agree to have their names attached to the
anecdotes — said some clients had offered to pay them with sexual favors. They all insisted
they held out for cash, checks or credit card payments.
Some lawyers said they stopped accepting other people's property because they tired of the
hassle of selling it on eBay or at local auction houses.
But Michael D. Weinstein, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer, said he's worked out payment plans with
clients and always tries to figure out something to make it work. He's accepted paintings, a
Cartier ring he sold on eBay for about $1,500, a Krieger watch, and his all-time favorite — a
white 2005 Mini Cooper that a client planned to sell to pay the bill for his 2010 trial.
Local internet m arketing by PaperG
"He told me what he was going to do and I said 'Hmmm, I really like that car,'" Weinstein
said. The dealership checked it out and the client transferred the title to settle his tab.
Veteran criminal defense lawyer Fred Haddad said he grew up the son of an old-fashioned
doctor who often bartered his services and taught his son to do the same — at least, on
occasion.
"I've taken lasagna and meals from clients who run restaurants," Haddad said. "It's hilarious
valuing some of this stuff for the tax man."
He said he accepted, and later sold, a ranch in Wyoming about 25 years ago, and he still
regrets that he turned down a house on the Hillsboro mile because he didn't want to pay the
taxes.
Back in the day, he and his former law partner accepted some airplanes, but Haddad now
confesses to having a weakness for boats and nice cars. "I've taken everything from Ferraris
on down."
But Haddad said there can be a downside: "A lot of the stuff I've taken wound up costing me.
I took a '67 Camaro and I'm into it for $14,000 already, rebuilding the engine."
[email protected], 954-356-4533 or Twitter @SentinelPaula
Copy right © 201 3, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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Attorney fees: Some lawyers accept bartered goods - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
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www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-attorney-fees-no-cash-20130420,0,1047483.story
4/5
4/23/13
Attorney fees: Some lawyers accept bartered goods - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Comments (6)
Add / View comments | Discussion FAQ
Rose Marie Smith at 8:22 AM April 23, 2013
Barter at its best!! Sometimes the best ways are the old ways...
Harcourt Fenton Mudd at 6:19 AM April 22, 2013
Surprising ways to avoid paying taxes on income.
Bipasho at 11:23 PM April 21, 2013
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the range Buick since I been bringin in $5854 thiss month and just a little over tengrand last month. this is actually the easiest job Ive ever done. I actually started 3
months ago and pretty much immediately was bringin home over $81, per-hr. I work
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