Disbarred Tax Attorney Keeps Suing… and Suing… And Suing

I’ve resisted blogging this before – but the lawsuits keep coming and it is practically impossible to ignore. It’s a story of a tax attorney gone bad, really bad. And while I don’t usually like to call attention to a colleague’s misery on the blog, this guy deserves it. Read on.

James Colliton once worked for the prestigious law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP as a tax attorney. His life has since taken a pretty despicable, miserable turn.

In 2006, the former attorney should have been spending time with his wife and five children at his home in Poughkeepsie, NY. Instead, Colliton was arrested by detectives after being discovered alone in a Canadian hotel room with ID that read “James Sullivan.”

It marked the end to a pretty horrendous sequence of events. In the summer of 200, Colliton paid a 15 year old girl for regular sex with the permission of the girls’ mother. The arrangement continued through 2004. The mother, who was serving as the daughter’s pimp, would keep half of the money.

In 2004, the girl’s 13 year old sister, on direction from her mother, moved into Colliton’s New York apartment where he paid for sex with the underage girl. In 2006, the girl eventually told a case worker what was happening and the girls were removed fro the mother’s home.

Colliton allegedly told the girls that he wife was dying of cancer and that he would have lots of money after she died (nice guy, huh?). He gave the girls cell phones so that he could meet them at his convenience; investigators in the case found numerous cell phones at his apartment which made them believe that other victims may have been involved. The girl who reported the abuse claims that as many as 10 other girls frequented Colliton’s New York apartment.

After his arrest, Colliton admitted to second and third degree rape in the second degree, both felonies, and patronizing a prostitute, a misdemeanor, in a plea deal. He was eligible for immediate release since he had already served 19 months in jail. Colliton also had to register as a sex offender.

Upon his release, Colliton sued his former employer, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, for nearly $1.5 million alleging that he was denied salary, vacation pay and bonus. Colliton represented himself in the suit, which was handwritten on notebook paper. Cravath has refused to comment on the suit.

Colliton also sued Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and assistant district attorneys Ann Donnelly and Rachel Hochhauser, claiming that the prosecutors tried to have him assaulted in jail.

The latest in Colliton’s sad series of suits is a $4 million against against American Express. He claims that AmEx violated its privacy policy by sharing with authorities that he used his credit card in Ontario, Canada, leading to his arrest.

If Colliton’s suits reek of the desperate stink of a man clamoring for cash, you may not be far off. Colliton, who once made a base salary of about a half million per year, cried poor at his trial and claimed that he could not afford to pay his lawyers. I expect that he’ll stay that way. He has been disbarred by the State of New York, and as a result, is currently not allowed to practice before the Tax Court.

(Hat Tip: AmLawDaily)

Kelly Phillips Erb

Kelly Phillips Erb is a tax attorney, tax writer, and podcaster.

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