Fourteen years ago, an Illinois lawyer named Robert Hirsch saw an email from “Julie Kobayashi.” It seemed Julie was in a bit of a bind and a hurry. She needed Hirsch’s help with her divorce. Julie didn’t appear for an interview, and apparently, Hirsch didn’t bother with any checks on “Julie’s” credibility.
Hirsch was wired $298,500. “Kobayashi” instructed Hirsch to deposit the CitiBank cashier check into his IOLTA account (client trust account). “You can keep $29,000, just wire the remainder to an account in Japan.” Kobayashi likely told him that the money was part of her “settlement.” Maybe Hirsch had visions of a yacht on Lake Michigan. He accepted the client and her story and the check.
Banks try to protect even the dumbest people — even lawyers too gullible to check the provenance of a client he never met or to demand that the “client” deposit…
