Philly-area lawyer disbarred for ‘lack of professional ethics,’ ‘outright theft’

A lawyer from suburban Philadelphia was disbarred Monday for varying degrees of misconduct involving five clients.

Scott L. Kramer, 40, was cited for failing to provide competent representation, “a lack of professional ethics,” and “outright theft,” by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in a report to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Among the cases, Kramer, whose office was in Media, was given power-of-attorney by a client who had allegedly been involved with a Mexican drug cartel. While his client was in prison, Kramer allegedly withdrew $747,000 in “excessive fees” from the client’s Vanguard and bank accounts “that he was obviously not entitled to,” the Disciplinary Counsel noted in its report.

Kramer eventually paid most of the money back. But he had also pocketed $5,000 to make a personal investment and never returned it — “conduct that constitutes outright theft,” the board noted.

In addition, Kramer represented a deaf and disabled Navy veteran who needed protection from a former girlfriend, but the lawyer “failed to perform any substantive legal work.” He was hired by a man living in a nursing home who needed to settle a custody matter for his special-needs son, but Kramer botched the hearing by failing to show up, or report the man’s death to the court, according to the report.

In one divorce case, the board found that Kramer was “confused as to whom he actually represented.”

Kramer told the board that “poor bookkeeping” was partly to blame for his errors. The board replied that Kramer’s “lack of bookkeeping acumen cannot excuse his conduct.”

Reached at his office on Thursday, Kramer said, “As much as I’d like to comment, I can’t.”