- Self-dealing and exploitation for fees: The complaint alleges Borunda pushed a vulnerable family into extraordinarily risky probate litigation because he and affiliated lawyers stood to obtain enormous contingency fees from the family estate—placing their own financial interests ahead of their clients’.
- Fraudulent inducement into a second fee agreement: When Caroline wanted to abandon the litigation, Borunda allegedly privately persuaded her to remain, converting her hourly agreement into a contingency agreement containing arbitration provisions that ultimately benefited the lawyers.
- Concealing the catastrophic downside: Borunda allegedly initiated a will contest while minimizing it as “no big deal,” despite the risk that Richard and his children could lose their inheritance entirely.
- Concealing a way out: Borunda allegedly distorted a mediator’s communication and withheld that Richard could withdraw while avoiding disinheritance, thereby keeping lucrative litigation alive.
- Compromised arbitration and fee collection: The complaint alleges the lawyers ultimately benefited from an arbitration infected by undisclosed conflicts involving Anne Ashby and obtained millions in awards and heavily redacted fees.