George Thomas has money coming to him. A lot of money. But he fears he will never get it.
His divorce attorney, Gary A. Perotin of Placentia, owed him $126,000 from the sale of Thomas’ family home. The money was placed in a client account controlled by the lawyer.
When Perotin, 75, failed to release the money, Thomas sued him for breach of fiduciary duty. Perotin defaulted on the suit and Orange County Superior Court Judge Theodore Howard tripled the award to $378,000.
But Thomas, 76, of San Pedro can’t seem to collect from the lawyer.
“I don’t know what else to do, except to go to his house and shake it out of him,” said Thomas’ sister, Patricia LeBlanc, who has power of attorney over Thomas and has been directing his legal affairs.
Thomas is just one of several ex-clients who have complained Perotin allegedly mishandled their cases or withheld proceeds that were supposed to go to them.
One former client, Leslie Buckley, says Perotin hasn’t released more than $100,000 kept in a client trust account from her divorce proceedings. Buckley says her scores of phone calls and emails to Perotin have gone unanswered.
“I think his plan is to never give up the money from the sale of the house. That was his method of operation,” said Buckley, who now works two jobs and lives in her father’s house in Yorba Linda.
Maggie McKinney, 58, formerly of Mission Viejo, hired Perotin in 2023 to handle what she thought would be a simple divorce. But, McKinney said Perotin made mistakes, such as listing her husband’s address instead of her own to receive spousal support payments. She alleged he also was never available.
“He just disappeared. He didn’t show up for hearings,” McKinney said. “I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.”
McKinney is among at least three ex-clients who have separately complained to the State Bar. An investigation into her complaint concluded that Perotin’s conduct fell short of warranting disciplinary proceedings.
“Please be advised that attorney misconduct requires more than an error, mistake, or disagreement regarding the handling of a matter,” said an August letter to McKinney from the bar.
Responding to all the criticism in an email seeking comment, Perotin wrote: “I have been practicing over 45 years, errors are thankfully rare.” He did not comment further.
Perotin has been licensed by the State Bar since December 1976. The bar’s online website listed no disciplinary actions against him.
Ex-clients interviewed by The Orange County Register said they were referred to him by the Orange County Bar Association, which said lawyers on the referral list must fill out a statement of qualifications every two years and carry up to $300,000 in “errors and omissions” insurance.
LeBlanc said Perotin originally owed her brother $626,000 for his share of the sale of his house. After months of prodding, Perotin paid it down to $126,000, according to Thomas’ lawsuit. LeBlanc fired Perotin from the divorce case and asked him to close out the remaining funds. That’s where things stalled, she said.
“I kept on sending him emails, emails and (asking for) a financial statement of the funds until I was blue in the face,” LeBlanc said.
She went to Placentia police, who advised her to take the lawyer to court. LeBlanc hired attorney Douglas Kirk to file the lawsuit in February against Perotin. She also lodged a complaint with the State Bar.
“We got the judgment awarded to us, but we can’t collect,” LeBlanc said. “It’s just been a nightmare with this guy. It’s just ignore, ignore, ignore and the State Bar hasn’t done anything.
“Everything’s just been a dead-end.”
Also filing a complaint with the State Bar is Buckley, who said she works as a gofor at a wealth management firm and as a caretaker for an autistic child. According to court documents, her share of the home, sold in the divorce in 2022, and other assets was $127,000. But she says Perotin gave her only $12,000.
Buckley also accused Perotin of being unprepared in court — an allegation supported by Judge Richard Vogl’s stern admonitions in the divorce judgment.
Vogl wrote that it “belies belief” that Perotin did no research on case law governing commingled and separate property, which came into play when Buckley sought reimbursement for making the down payment on her and her husband’s home. Under the law, Buckley was not eligible for reimbursement.
“Had reasonable research been employed … petitioner’s counsel probably would have advised the petitioner that she has no documentary proof, the court would be unable to order reimbursement to her,” Vogl wrote. “It would seem counsel assumed no obligation to ascertain relevant legal principles.”
Buckley said she assumed her attorney would have done the work.
“I trusted my attorney to help protect my future during an already difficult divorce,” Buckley said. “Instead, I have been left struggling to understand what happened to money I was counting on to rebuild my life.”
Buckley had a professional fiduciary contact Perotin by email, and he responded: “Leslie has paid no fees in approximately two and a half years … obviously, a prodigious quantity of professional services has been rendered.”
Perotin’s legal battles also have seeped outside the realm of family law.
A 2022 lawsuit against Perotin by Healing Word International lays out the history of his legal battle with the religious group, which twice sued him for malpractice.
From 1999 to 2011, Perotin was the attorney for Healing Word International, the successor to the Melodyland religious organization in Anaheim. Perotin was sued by Healing Word in 2012 for allegedly divulging privileged information to three church members, who filed litigation against the church and its leaders, Neville and Wendy McDonald.
The church members alleged that Healing Word and the McDonalds misappropriated funds from the sale of Melodyland’s property, records show. The church members’ suit settled for $65,000. The 2012 malpractice suit against Perotin also was settled.
However, Perotin was again sued by Healing Word in 2022 on accusations that he misrepresented himself as the church’s true lawyer. Perotin said he represented Scott Boyd, a former church member who established the like-sounding Healing Word International – Colorado, according to the lawsuit. Boyd pleaded guilty in 2021 to fabricating financial documents related to a condominium project he was building in Colorado, the 2022 suit said.
Perotin filed litigation on behalf of Boyd and the “confederate” Healing Word International in Colorado in 2021, allegedly seeking to gain access to the original church’s financial records.
As part of the legal fight, Perotin was accused of falsely reporting to the Secretary of State’s Office that he was chief executive officer, chief financial officer and secretary of Melodyland since 2017. Melodyland had ceased to operate as a church in 2012.
Perotin’s lawsuit was later dismissed, according to the 2022 suit. Healing Word countered by filing the breach of fiduciary duty suit against Perotin, saying an attorney may not do anything that will injure an ex-client in any matter in which the attorney formerly represented the client. That suit was settled.
LeBlanc said Perotin’s history shows “he’s incompetent, obviously, and he takes advantage of people to gain financial betterment.”