Morris Eisen, Disgraced NY Personal Injury Attorney, Is Also A Madoff Victim (Irony)
Morris Eisen once had a personal injury firm in New York with dozens of lawyers. Many trumpeted his legal smarts. Then he was busted. For rigging cases by fabricating evidence. He was convicted in 1991 of bribery, mail fraud and racketeering and disbarred in 1992, and will forever be a disgrace to the community.
And now it seems, the crook Eisen has been victimized by another crook, Bernard Madoff. Eisen is on the Madoff list with two separate accounts, one on exclusive Fisher Island in Florida and one in Manhattan:
Morris Eisen Fisher Island FL 33109
Morris Eisen & Caryl Ellis New York NY 10022
While he may have been disbarred, he still clearly had substantial assets. (And his cases continue to be argued in one fashion or another.)
A little summary of Eisen’s problems from a June 2007 post of mine:
Some of the conduct included shrinking the size of a ruler down on a xerox machine, so a pothole would appear larger when the “ruler” was used, and paying a witness to give testimony about an accident when, in fact, he was in jail at the time and nowhere near the scene.
And when I did my prior summary, I didn’t even bother with the sledgehammer that was used to make the accident seem worse.
How much of Eisen’s success was based on being a good lawyer and how much based on him being a crook is known by only a few. But one thing is certain, he was an embarrassment to the profession and fed all the worst fears and jokes about lawyers being crooks and ambulance chasers. He tried to claim that the prosecutors picked on him because they were in league with the insurance companies and wanted “to send a chill through the ranks of the lawyers who represent accident victims.” I am no less angry today about that crap than when I heard it nearly two decades ago.
For many of us, whose reputations were tarnished merely by being in the same profession as he, no punishment was too great. He served 57 months in prison.
As the old saying goes, what goes around in life comes around. Murray Eisen the hustler has now been hustled by Bernie Madoff. Don’t expect me to shed a tear for either of them.
Update: Walter Olson has more on Eisen at Overlawyered, in Live by the swindle…
(hat tip to Louis Schepp for the find)
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blawg review #205
orrery closeup by binks. welcome to blawg review #205, the music of the spheres edition. the english composer gustav holst (1874-1934) was hugely prolific, but he is unquestionably best known for his orchestral suite, the planets. …posted by George Wallace @ March 30, 2009 3:01 AM
live by the swindle…
call it karma? among bernard madoff’s victims, eric turkewitz has discovered*, is none other than the infamous morris eisen, who made a ton of money in personal injury practice by faking evidence for his cases (highlights: taking a …posted by Walter Olson @ March 25, 2009 3:05 PM
Non-Sequiturs: 03.24.09
* The AIG bonus tax is also sexist. And, of course, communist. And most likely racist, homophobic, ageist, it certainly doesn’t do enough to fight AIDS or cure cancer, and is solely responsible for the death of every puppy in North …posted by @ March 24, 2009 6:27 PM
Related posts:
- Disbarred New York Personal Injury Attorney Fights For Legal Fees
- New York Personal Injury Attorney Probe Catches Another Ambulance Chaser
- Overlawyered Adds Personal Injury Attorney To Blogroll
- Madoff Fallout–Liablity of Third Party Money Managers
- Philip Morris – Another Take on The Stevens Dissent
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Eric:
Murray spent much less than 57 months in stir. Closer to 3 years. There were lots of rumors as tp why that was. Also, it was a pickax, not a sledgehammer, and the 7 inch foot ruler was created as a joke. Most, if not l the stories of its actual use are apocryphal.
DEW (Eisen survivor)
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : March 23, 2009 11:21 PM
DEW:
You are confusing the pick-axe that was used to enlarge the pothole with the sledgehammer that was used to smash in a tire rim to make an accident worse.
As per this New York Times piece:
Prosecutors said this had included using the sledgehammer to smash a tire rim to exaggerate an automobile accident
# posted by Blogger Eric Turkewitz : March 24, 2009 7:17 AM
Then the predator, now the prey: A sad Morris Eisen story.
# posted by Anonymous Postergal : March 25, 2009 2:40 AM
I think for guys like Eisen it becomes a trap – the lifestyle, money, fame, adulation, power. Then they begin making mistakes to continue that lifestyle without having to work as hard.
# posted by Anonymous credit card bankruptcy : March 26, 2009 10:44 AM
Wow…that is ironic!!! What goes around comes around, right? I've been on Fisher Island, too. Nice…can I have his place??