An attorney who once wrote a regular column on elder law was arrested and also disbarred for second degree theft from a client. Back in 2007 Francis and Susan McSpedon hired Cape Corral attorney William Edy to prepare a trust for them. Shortly after that Susan passed away from asbestos related lung cancer. She was a plaintiff in a lawsuit and won a settlement. The issue came up when the settlement checks were sent to William Edy instead of Francis McSpedon. Edy skimmed money from the settlement checks and Francis had to hire another attorney to get the money back. Elder financial abuse is a growing problem and there are statistics showing a greater risk of attorney misbehavior in places with large populations of retirees. This is a problem that is going to continue into the future as the senior citizen population continues to grow. The report on Mr. Edy’s disbarment can be read here.
See Melanie Payne, Elder law attorney rips off seniors, news-press, December 21, 2015.
