Lawyer found guilty of theft by extortion.

[fultonCoShooter]

Article published Mar 21, 2008

Lawyer guilty of salon extortion

By CHELSEA CONABOY
Concord Monitor staff
Mar 21, 2008

A Manchester lawyer who threatened to sue a Concord salon for pricing haircuts differently for men and women and then took money to settle the matter was found guilty of theft by extortion.

A jury took about 1½ hours to convict Daniel Hynes, 27, on Wednesday. Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Baker said Hynes sent letters to at least 19 salons in the state.

One arrived Dec. 20, 2006, at Claudia's, the North Main Street hair salon owned by Claudia Lambert. In the letter, Hynes said prices should be based on the time a cut takes or on the length of hair, instead of on gender. He wrote: "I demand payment in the amount of $1,000 in order to avoid litigation," according to court documents.

Lambert's husband, Ben Nardi, contacted the attorney general's office. He also contacted Hynes. After Hynes came to collect $500 at Nardi's Manchester real estate office, the police arrested him.

The misdemeanor conviction carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Hynes said yesterday that he plans to appeal.

"The conviction goes against the First Amendment," he said. "People have a right to petition the courts. In my case, I wanted to address my concern with the Human Rights Commission."

Asked why he sent letters to salons instead of contacting the commission directly, Hynes said lawyers often settle out of court.

"I believe it's more appropriate to attempt as amicable a resolution as possible," he said.

Hynes, who was represented by a public defender, twice asked for the charges to be dismissed.

In one court document, he argued that the price structure that he saw as discriminatory had caused him stress and mental anguish, despite the fact that prices for men were less than those for women. He said he was being denied an "inherent benefit in being treated equally." He pointed to a woman's right to vote and said he benefits from her right, even though he is a man.

Hynes is a 2006 graduate of Western New England College School of Law in Springfield, Mass. He began practicing in New Hampshire in November 2006.

Hynes's case will likely be reviewed by the professional conduct committee of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, said Richard Uchida, a former member of the committee and former president of the New Hampshire Bar Association. Any lawyer convicted of a crime may be reviewed.

The committee looks at whether a case reflects adversely on the trustworthiness or ability of a lawyer and whether a lawyer is engaged in deceit or fraud.

"In instances like this, there is, at the very least, a substantial suspension, if not a disbarment," Uchida said.

Lambert and Nardi said they were happy with the outcome of the trial and grateful that the attorney general's office took their concerns seriously. Nardi said his wife was worried throughout the holiday season that followed the incident.

"She was very concerned about her name and image in the community and felt a very definite threat that this man was after her," he said.

Baker said that if Hynes wanted to push the salons to change their pricing, he could have sent the letters without demanding money.

"It was an effort by an attorney to seemingly use his position as an attorney to demand money that he was not legally entitled to and to make threats of a bogus lawsuit," she said.

[Seventy4Blazer]

seems like a bit of blackmale as well...

lawyers are not all bad, but stink pots like this guy make them all seem bad...

[Swarner793]

There is an old adage, "the only good lawyer is my lawyer". It is kind of funny, lawyers do extort people all the time, it is what they do. He apparently went about it wrong.

Be safe.

Scott