Suspended attorney pleads guilty to forging signature of judge

Jace Radke

Monday, April 11, 2005 | 9:22 a.m.

A suspended local attorney and son of a prominent Las Vegas developer pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to charges that he forged the signature of a federal judge.

Lawrence J. Davidson was indicted in November and is alleged to have forged U.S. District Judge Robert Jones' signature on court documents to mislead a client and to try to avoid malpractice charges.

Davidson, whose father, Don Davidson, is vice president of Triple Five Development and a member of the Las Vegas Housing Authority, told U.S. District Judge James Mahan that he forged Jones' signature on a bankruptcy case document he created.

"In an effort to mislead a client of mine as to the status of a case I created ... a bogus bankruptcy case," Davidson said Friday.

In his brief appearance in court, Davidson answered general questions about his education and background and told Johnston that he is under the care of a psychologist and is taking prescription medication for depression and anxiety.

According to a State Bar Association's petition, Davidson concocted fraudulent documents to make a client believe that he had won a medical malpractice case when in fact Davidson had neglected to follow the proper procedure for filing such a case.

Davidson is also alleged to have misappropriated $350,000 in settlement funds from his clients, according to the Bar Association. The association further alleges that Davidson forged the signature of District Judge Sally Loehrer.

The bar began investigating Davidson in May 2003 after Loehrer wrote a letter to the Bar about a judgment she said she didn't sign.

A year ago the FBI subpoenaed documents from Davidson's office, but Davidson would not comment at the time as to what the documents were, citing attorney-client privilege.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Schiess said that Friday's plea agreement does not take into account possible future embezzlement charges against Davidson. Those allegations are continuing to be investigated.

Davidson is scheduled to be sentenced June 27 on the charge of forging a judge's signature, and he could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.