The partners of a Chicago law firm have settled a federal lawsuit that accused them of overcharging federal agencies that hired the firm to foreclose on property. The suit was originally filed by a whistle-blowing mortgage broker.
Fisher and Fisher P.C. has admitted no wrongdoing but did agree to pay $676,852 within 10 days to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), according to a copy of the settlement filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.
The firm has also agreed to pay $51,000 to the lawyer of the whistleblower — a Kansas City, MO, mortgage broker named Chris Jones — who filed the suit under the False Claims Act. The act allows individuals to file suits if the government is a victim of fraud.
Jones filed suit in 2000, accusing Fisher and Fisher of submitting false charges to the VA and HUD. The government joined the suit and forged the settlement agreement, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago.
Under the terms of the agreement Jones will receive $169,213 of the settlement. The amount equals 25 percent of the settlement, the maximum allowed in federal whistleblower lawsuits.
The firm and its principals were sued for submitting false claims for payment and receiving “payments to which they were not entitled,” according to the settlement.
Fisher and Fisher were accused by Jones and the government of submitting false bills to the government for placing legal notices of foreclosures in newspapers and other publications. The loans being foreclosed on were guaranteed by the VA and HUD, the settlement states.
The firm was reimbursed for the charges, but in many cases the legal notices were not published, according to the lawsuit.
Reached in his Chicago law office Barry Fisher — who along with his partner, Kenneth Fisher was named in the suit — said he could not comment and referred the call to his lawyer, Daniel M. Purdom of Chicago.
Purdom was in a trial and could not be reached. But a settlement agreement states that they settled the suit “to avoid the expense, burden and uncertainty of litigation.”
Purdom told The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin that the firm cooperated with the government on the investigation and blamed the over billings on a “clerical” error.
“The moment that personnel at Fisher and Fisher learned of any problems, they worked closely with the government to investigate and determine the extent of the problems,” Purdom told the publication. “It was clear that a clerical billing error occurred, and there was absolutely no intentional wrongdoing by anyone.”
Neither Jones nor his attorney could be reached for comment.
