LOS ANGELES : Man Awarded $2.5 Million in Attorney Fraud Case

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury has awarded $2.5 million to a businessman who claimed he received legal advice from a man who misrepresented himself as an attorney.

Paul Cross of Woodland Hills claimed Charles H. Smith acted as his lawyer while he developed a business to farm cultured pearls. But Smith, who once had a practice in the Los Angeles area, had resigned from the California State Bar, according to Cross’ attorney, Bruce M. Bunch. Smith secured an employment contract from Cross and a large sale of initial stock in the venture, Bunch said. The award followed a nine-day trial in which Cross claimed that Smith had defrauded him by misrepresenting himself.