California Lawyer Accused of ADA Suit Scam Is Disqualified

A lawyer can’t represent his client in a disability-access case because he committed fraud by filing suits nearly identical to the numerous suits he filed for his client, a federal court in California ruled.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on Tuesday disqualified Geoffrey Bentley from representing Karel Spikes in a suit against an auto-repair shop, and said it would refer him for discipline.

Spikes sued the shop and the alleged owner of the property under the Americans with Disabilities Act and its California counterpart, the Unruh Act. He alleges he encountered barriers to access while a customer there.

After Bentley filed Spikes’s suit in the Southern District of California, he sued on his own behalf in state court, Magistrate Judge Mitchell D. Dembin said.

The pattern has been repeated in 16 other pairs of suits against other businesses, according to Dembin. In the state-court suits, Bentley alleges he visited the businesses as a bona fide customer.

But that allegation isn’t true, Dembin said. “By his own admission, Mr. Bentley’s purpose of visiting Defendants’ business was not to use and enjoy the facility—it was simply to complete his legal obligation” to confirm his client’s allegations, Dembin said.

Bentley’s purpose was “to extract more money” through his roles in two suits, Dembin said. “This illustrates a scheme to defraud,” he said.

The case is Spikes v. Arabo, 2020 BL 48436, S.D. Cal., No. 19cv1594-W-MDD, 2/11/20.