I cannot say such things, such comments are heresy and unbecoming. But I honor the courage of a fine and deeply committed lawyer who shows his honor by speaking out. I encourage everyone to please read carefully the important words of this attorney and consider the impact of his statement on the rights and the future for all of us:
If the courts can’t address clear instances of fraud and injustice, how can they protect our citizens?
It has been exactly 18 months since I deposed GMAC Mortgage‘s prolific document signer, Jeffrey Stephan, in a case where I was defending a Maine homeowner in foreclosure. Stephan admitted to signing 8,000 to 10,000 foreclosure documents a month (that is about one a minute, if you do the arithmetic), including summary judgment affidavits used by courts as the basis for entering foreclosure judgments. Stephan’s affidavits were sent by GMAC to courts all over the country. Obviously, and as Stephan admitted, he did not bother to read those affidavits. He also admitted that he had no idea as to whether the foreclosure affidavits that he signed were true. He didn’t even trouble himself to appear before a notary to be sworn, even though his affidavits said that he had done so. While Stephan admitted that he understood that judges were relying upon his affidavits to take away the homes of homeowners all over the country, he seemed serene and untroubled by his dishonesty in signing these false affidavits. (Conduct like this has since been awarded the slang term ” robo-signing,” but I never use it because it fails to adequately describe the dishonesty and deception involved.)
