Fraudsters are becoming bolder. Today my colleague Adam Goodman received a cheque payable to him in the amount of $145,000 via mail with a brief note seeking legal assistance on a family law matter. The envelope had no return address. The only contact information was an email account and a foreign address. The sender asked Mr. Goodman to deposit the funds into his trust account and deduct his fees before wiring the remaining balance overseas.
Obviously, the cheque was fraudulent. Mr. Goodman contacted the supposed issuer, a local non-profit organization, and confirmed that it was bogus. The organization said that they had received several inquiries regarding such cheques and they had reported the incidents to the authorities. Apparently at least one attempt was made to cash the bad cheque.
Concerned, Mr. Goodman has forwarded the details of the incident to the lawyers’ insurance company, LAWPRO. A fraud advisory is expected to be issued shortly.
For further details, visit Mr. Goodman’s blog at www.aglawblog.ca.
Adam Goodman is a lawyer practising in North York, Ontario, Canada. Visit his website at www.aglaw.ca.
I’m pleased to announce that PSWLaw has adopted the following initiatives to better protect our environment in 2010:
Energy Conservation
- Our central A/C shuts off at 6:00 pm on weekdays and remains off on weekends.
- We use natural lighting in our corner office suite whenever possible.
- We use CFL bulbs for artificial lighting.
- Our PCs hibernate after 15 minutes of inactivity.
Reducing Paper Consumption
- Our incoming fax messages are now printed double-sided.
- Non-confidential single-sided documents are reused for internal purposes.
- Reference materials are stored electronically where possible.
- We have opted to receive the weekly Ontario Report electronically, saving approximately 4,000 pages of paper per year.
- Invoices and correspondence to clients are sent electronically where possible.
- The Often Cited Family Law Cases are no longer reproduced in the Book of Authorities; only the relevant extracts that we wish to rely on are attached.
- We pay our bills online where possible.
Decreasing Carbon Footprint
- For deliveries within the downtown core, we choose GreenTeam Courier, a Bullfrog powered company that facilitates all pick-ups and deliveries with a team of cyclists, walkers, and TTC Metro Pass couriers.
- Our web-hosting company DreamHost is certified as carbon-neutral by an independent third party, The Green Office, through purchasing renewable energy and investing in Emission Reduction Credits.
- Staff members are encouraged to take public transit for office-related errands whenever possible.
Making Environmentally Responsible Choices
- 100% of our paper and stationery products are either FCS (Forest Stewardship Council) or SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) certified, containing wood fibre from well-managed sources with a minimum 30% recycled contents.
- 100% of waste paper is recycled, with confidential documents shredded.
- We purchase refills for pens and tape dispensers.
- We reuse moving boxes for future file storage.
- Empty toner cartridges of our laser printer are returned to the manufacturer, Brother Canada.
- Most cordless electronics run on rechargeable batteries.
Suggestions? Please leave your comments below.
