Disbarment Recommended for Attorney Who Billed Fake Clients

Kenneth Denti manufactured fake billings for non-existent clients at not one, but two law firms in which he was a partner, submitting fake time sheets for about two and a half years that reflected more than $350,000 in fees. A special master had recommended an 18-month suspension of Denti because there was no finding of criminality or knowing misappropriation, but the New Jersey Disciplinary Review Board (“DRB”) is pushing for disbarment. The DRB says Denti “engaged in an insidious plot that, coupled with his obvious untruthful testimony, shows a deficiency of character that compels disbarment.”

According to the DRB, Denti began working at Fox Rothschild in New Jersey as a contract partner in 2005, making an annual salary of about $200,000. He had previously been a New Jersey deputy attorney general, then had built a matrimonial, zoning and land use practice at the Duane Morris firm. Fox Rothschild thought Denti had brought a book of business with him, as indicated by the time sheets he entered – according to his time sheets, his work on one matrimonial matter exceeded $100,000. But Denti did not submit any invoices for payment, so the firm launched an internal investigation that revealed that Denti’s “clients” did not actually exist. Many had been his clients at Duane Morris, but they stayed with that firm when Denti left. After 14 months with the firm, Fox Rothschild asked Denti to leave and filed a grievance against him in New Jersey.

Denti then scuttled on over to Margolis Edelstein, bringing with him his alleged book of business. When Margolis similarly confronted Denti in August 2007, he resigned. When Margolis subsequently filed a grievance against Denti, it discovered that it was not the first firm to do so.

The DRB also found Denti guilty of submitting phony expense accounts, and determined that his sexual relationship with a matrimonial client while she was trying to reconcile with her husband created a conflict of interest. When they testified, Denti and the woman denied having had sex, claiming that the steamy emails between them were merely playful jokes. As for the fake billing, Denti suggested that he had done work for the clients but had not kept good records.

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