Recently in Greedy Stuff Category

Texas State Representative Ronald Reynolds seems to have gotten himself into a bit of trouble. The managing partner and former municipal judge was arrested late last month and charged with barratry.

Yep, that's spelled correctly. Barratry, it turns out, is just a fancy word for ambulance chasing. And in Texas, it's not just prohibited by legal ethics rules -- it's also flat out illegal.

In fact, it's such a widespread problem at the Harris County Courthouse near Houston, officials recently erected signs warning attorneys that barratry is a crime.

Yahoo! CEO Scott Thompson is in some hot water over padding his resume. And his shining example shows why all you job-hunting associates should think twice before bloating your credentials.

Third Point, a Yahoo! shareholder firm, accused Thompson of lying about his college degree, CNNMoney reports. Thompson's Yahoo! bio stated that he possessed a Bachelor's degree in accounting and computer science from Stonehill College. But his degree is only in accounting. Third Point discovered the discrepancy in the midst of its proxy fight with the Internet company.

Ouch. Yahoo! says it's investigating the matter. But both Thompson and the company have got some 'splainin' to do.

And so do you if get caught in a similar mess. The fallout from Thompson's debacle can pass along some value lessons to jobseekers.

All you lowly associates take note: you are getting poorer. That is, compared to what your firm's partners are getting. A new survey reveals the gap between hourly associate rates and rates for partners is widening. So while partners become richer, those at the bottom aren't.

In 2011, the top 25 percent of law partners charged an average of $873 an hour, according to the survey conducted by analytics firm TyMetrix Inc. Attorneys at the bottom 25 percent earned only $204 an hour. The figures are based on responses from 4,000 law firms.

So what could be causing the gap?

What happens in a jailhouse interview room, doesn't always stay in a jailhouse interview room. A Georgia lawyer learned that the hard way, after an inmate snitched on him for allegedly trying to trade contraband for sexual favors.

Michael Stuart Winner, 45, of Sandy Springs, Ga., was booked into the Cobb County jail after allegedly making indecent proposals to two female inmates at the jail, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Winner met with the inmates in the jail's attorney-client meeting rooms, where he offered to smuggle items like drugs or tobacco in exchange for sexual favors, according to an arrest warrant. He then allegedly showed that he was serious.

A New York attorney must pay $10,000 in sanctions for his brutish behavior at a deposition -- including verbal insults that were so abusive, the court reporter walked out and refused to return.

"This is absolutely shocking," the sanctioned lawyer, Joseph R. Sahid, told Reuters. "I've been a lawyer for 40 years. I have never been sanctioned for anything."

But the court sided with Sahid's opposing counsel, who complained about Sahid's antics at a depo in 2010. A lower court judge -- who's since retired -- declined to sanction Sahid, but an appellate judge felt differently.

Kelley Drye & Warren has just settled its age discrimination case with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Seems they were discriminating against aged partner attorneys.

As part of the settlement, Kelley Drye has agreed to drop an internal policy that allegedly required partners who reached age 70 to release any ownership in the firm and take a pay cut, Reuters reports.

But that's not all.

A Nigerian lawyer in Michigan now holds a rather unique distinction: He's been disbarred before he even got a full-fledged license to practice law in the state.

Gbenga Anjorin, a 1992 graduate of a Nigerian law school, handled hundreds of cases -- many as a court-appointed attorney -- and even attended hearings in the so-called "Underwear Bomber's" terrorism trial, the Detroit Free Press reports.

But Anjorin's courtroom antics in a case involving five crates of nuts led to an ethics complaint, and eventually his downfall.

Attorney William Vilmont has gumption. Either that, or he simply doesn't know when to cut his losses and repent.

The Iowa attorney has earned himself a 30-day suspension and all because he decided to charge his client a $2,500 minimum fee. For your average criminal representation, this wouldn't be an outlandish amount. However, Vilmont only spent 3.7 hours on the case -- one hour of which was used to provide an accounting.

Still, he adamantly maintained that he did not charge an unreasonable fee.

A suspended lawyer-turned-rabbi pleaded guilty Monday in what prosecutors say may be the largest immigration fraud scheme in U.S. history.

Earl Seth David, 48, charged illegal immigrants up to $30,000 for his legal services, in which he filed fraudulent letters that claimed the immigrants were sponsored by U.S. employers, the New York Daily News reports.

Some 25,000 illegal immigrants paid David for his fraudulent services over a 13-year period, according to the Daily News. David now has to forfeit his profits -- about $2.5 million. And that's not all.

One has to wonder whether Glenn McGogney of Harrisburg, Penn. actually ever read the state's attorney ethics rules. The longtime attorney was disbarred late last month by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after the justices learned of his less than savory behavior.

Besides letting deadlines lapse, he convinced two clients to invest in his failing side business. He also conveniently forgot to tell them that the money was for a strip club.