Balita Illegally Owns and Manages ‘Beirne’ Law Office — A Danger to the Community

1. 3/9/2012 James Beirne Scam 1

2. Balita Illegally Owns and Manages
‘Beirne’ Law Office — A Danger to
the Community
Submitted by PinoyWatchDog.com
By Rene Villaroman and PWD Investigative Team
3/9/2012 James Beirne Scam 2

3. GLENDALE – Although the rumor that the
Beirne Law Office is owned by the Allens
had been swirling around like the sands of
Kalahari for many years, the reclusive
owners – Anthony Allen and his Filipino wife
Luchie Mendoza have not owned up to that
fact.
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4. The Allens are not licensed attorneys, and in
California, it is illegal for non-lawyers to own
and operate a law office. The Beirne Law
Office ownership issue surfaced before the Los
Angeles Superior Court in 2009 when the
Asian Journal, the largest Filipino-American
English newspaper in Southern California,
petitioned for a protective order because Balita
was attempting to obtain distribution
information from them. Despite the
seriousness of the charge, neither Allen nor
Beirne came forward to dispute this allegation
in their opposition to the Asian Journal court
motions.
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5. Anthony Allen, court records show, is openly
the general manager of the Beirne Law Office
and principal owner of Balita Media, Inc.
Luchie Mendoza Allen, who has admitted
under oath using five different names for
various reasons, stands in as the „public‟
publisher of the newspaper, but
PinoyWatchDog.com has reliable information
that Anthony Allen calls the shots.
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6. LexisNexis investigation shows Anthony Allen owns James
Beirne Law Office.
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7. 3/9/2012 James Beirne Scam 7

8. During 1990s up to early 2000s, Luchie Mendoza-
Allen, who has no college degree, was a member
of „Beirne‟s law firm. „Beirne‟s law firm usually had
about half a dozen ads in the Balita
newspaper, including ads featuring Mendoza-
Allen as „consultant‟ for consumer credit, debt
relief, foreclosure bankruptcy, and
divorce. Mendoza-Allen even had a full-page
column in Balita providing general legal advice on
consumer matters.
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9. It is on public record that the State Bar of
California suspended Attorney James Beirne in
February 1998. Based on the summary of
disciplinary record of Beirne from the State Bar
website, Beirne‟s suspension stemmed from his
partnership with Anthony Allen and Luchie
Mendoza-Allen in a credit repair business. One of
the reasons cited was allowing his non-lawyer
partners to consult with clients and prepare
documents in bankruptcy cases without his
supervision and allowing a partner to dispense
general legal advice through the column in Balita.
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10. Undeterred, even after Beirne‟s suspension, Ms.
Mendoza-Allen continued to write articles on
consumer matters. She continued to appear in
many ads of Beirne‟s law firm in Balita, some of
which featured her exclusively or side by side
with Beirne. The ads indicated Ms. Mendoza-
Allen was still providing advice regarding
consumer credit and debt relief despite Beirne
being suspended for this illegal activity.
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11. Through these years, Balita and the „Bierne‟ law
office always have shared the same
office locations in Glendale, Cerritos and West
Covina. Currently, Beirne and Balita‟s main
offices are still located at the same Glendale
office on Wilson St. The operations of the two
companies are intermingled and under the control
and direction of Anthony Allen and Luchie
Mendoza-Allen. Many staff members could be
working for either Balita or „the law office‟ on any
given day.
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12. PinoyWatchDog.com has unearthed an August
2009 correspondence from James Beirne that
Balita Media and „his‟ law office indeed had the
same accountant and bookkeepers. One ex-
Balita staffer told the PinoyWatchDog.com
investigative team that it was understood at the
newspaper that the common of financial record
keeping is used to cover up that the Allens are
making all the money and that Beirne is merely
an employee of the Allens.
Indeed, hiring for the staff for the „law firm‟ is
handled through Balita, with the newspaper
acting as an employment agency for the law firm.
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13. The authoritative information service
LexisNexis lists Anthony Allen as the #1 owner
of the Law Offices of James G. Beirne, as well
as the „only‟ owner of the „Asian American
Legal Center‟, a moniker often used by the „law
office‟ to lure unsuspecting Filipinos there.
“Shouldn‟t the lawyer own and be in charge of
the law office?” some Filipinos are asking.
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14. Since September 2011, Anthony and Luchie Mendoza-
Allen‟s son, Paul „Boy‟ Mendoza, has appeared as an
attorney alongside James Beirne. „Boy‟ Mendoza now
appears in Balita advertisements as having his same
firm, at the same addresses and locations as Balita and
Bierne. „Boy‟ Allen admits having absolutely no prior legal
experience, and no prior bankruptcy experience. He was
just admitted as an attorney in the summer of 2011.
However, he has now been designated as the new fronting
attorney for his parents‟ long standing law firm
business, particularly now that Atty Beirne‟s future practice
is in question as he faces hundreds of contempt charges
and a gathering public outcry regarding rampant false and
misleading advertising. One source inside the Balita/‟Bierne‟
operation stated “business is way down because everyone
now knows no attorney is really in charge over here.”
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15. Balita Media has devoted its pages to attacking
Attorney Joel Bander recently because
PinoyWatchDog.com has exposed Attorney
James Beirne. Bander is representing a Filipino
family who lost their home because the „Bierne‟s
law office failed to file an already completed
bankruptcy petition. “These sustained attacks on
me by Balita Media substantiate that the Allens
own these law firm entities. Otherwise, why
would a newspaper devote so much space to
protect a mere advertiser?” Bander asked.
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16. Leading trial attorney Dennis Wilson, retained
by Atty Bander to prosecute James Beirne for
hundreds of counts of contempt of court, stated
“We will be using the Balita campaign against
Attorney Bander as evidence that the Beirne
law office is owned by Balita. The campaign
only proves how dependent the Allens are on
the income from the Beirne law office.”
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17. When asked about Beirne‟s repeated violations of
the Superior Court‟s order in the face of hundreds
of contempt charges, Wilson stated “no attorney
actually in charge of their own business would
ever persist with this ongoing illegal and unethical
advertising even after admitting under oath that
the advertising was not totally truthful.”
When this writer asked Atty Bander about Balita‟s
campaign against him for exposing the illegal
ownership and false advertising of the „Beirne‟ law
office, he stated “I am willing to take their heat if in
the long run it helps the entire Filipino community
to eradicate this disreputable entity.”
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