Joseph Monahan was not my lawyer, but he was hired by someone who was trying to gain control over my late brother, who had dementia. Monahan's client teamed up with my brother's caregiver, who was literally holding my brother hostage in his apartment and forbidding me from even seeing him. When I went to the police, I got a threatening, falsehood-filled letter from Monahan, accusing me of elder abuse, medical neglect, and financial exploitation, and warning me not to interfere with the caregiver or he would have me arrested and charged with several felonies. None of his accusations were true, and in fact, I had been devoting my life to my brother, feeding him, cleaning for him, staying with him in the hospital after his surgery and walking around the hospital hallways with him day and night. (He was a compulsive walker.) I originally hired the caregiver only for post-op care at home. Someone (either Monahan, the caregiver, or Monahan's client) reported me to Adult Protective Services, and when they came to investigate, my brother was out of his mind from starvation at the hands of the caregiver, but she managed to blame the lack of food in the apartment on me, even though she had banned me from the place. I took Monahan's letter to the police, but because of the report to APS, I was not allowed to fire the caregiver or even to be alone with my brother. I hired two attorneys, both of whom knew Monahan and called him up, but he refused to talk to either of them. I emailed him, asking him for evidence to back up his accusations, but he never replied. Nevertheless, I spent $20,000 on 24-hour care, ordered by APS, during the next five months (although I did manage to get the police to escort the crooked caregiver out of my brother's building, and I hired new helpers). During that time, we were subjected to unannounced early-morning, raid-like "inspections" by APS; and I spent $12,000 in legal fees defending myself against those false accusations while trying to get guardianship over my brother. Monahan's client called my lawyer several times and talked at length, at my expense, and my lawyer concluded that this client was a "bad actor" who was up to no good. In fact, my brother knew him from his prior residence, and every time the client's name came up, my brother would become agitated and cry, "Don't trust him! He's a crook!" Finally I obtained guardianship, but I was ordered to send my brother to a memory care facility, where he died six months later. I wrote to Monahan, informing him of my brother's death and again asking for evidence to back up his accusations, but of course, he did not reply. I don't know anything more about the man, except that he was willing to threaten and intimidate the sister of a senior citizen and write a letter full of falsehoods and unwarranted accusations on behalf of a "bad actor." Recently I saw a show about people who try to get guardianship over senior citizens so they can steal their money and property. One of the first things they do is report the family to the authorities and hire lawyers to threaten them. Monahan's client didn't succeed in getting control over my brother, but my brother lost his freedom and ultimately his life. read more
