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PROVO —A Utah County woman who sued her former attorney claiming he forged her signature and settled her personal injury case for far less money than she could have potentially received was recently awarded more than $800,000 as part of a judgment that totaled more than $1.2 million.
But Lisa Neilson will likely never seen any of that money because Aaron Banks currently has no assets, according to Neilson's current attorney, Bryan Larson.
"Getting a judgment does not give you access to an ATM somewhere," he said. "Lisa Neilson is probably going to go without anything except for a moral victory."
And while Larson will likely not see any money either, he said he represented Neilson because Banks "also hurt the legal profession."
"This guy is a bad apple, plain and simple. He's a total bad apple."
Neilson's civil suit is one of several Banks is currently facing. He is also scheduled to stand trial in August on criminal charges related to Neilson's case. His license to practice law in Utah is currently suspended, according to the Utah State Bar's website, and Larson said a judge was expected to rule any day on whether to disbar Banks, who was admitted to the bar in 2013.
Banks, 48, of Provo, was charged in 2020 in 4th District Court by the Utah Attorney General's Office with communications fraud, a second-degree felony, and three counts of forgery, a third-degree felony.
KSL.com attempted to contact Banks for comment, but a phone number listed on the Utah Bar website for his office was not answered. Banks also did not respond to a request for comment when charges were filed against him in 2020.
In 2017, Neilson was involved in a serious crash and hired Banks to handle her personal injury civil claim, according to charging documents. Neilson's medical bills were more than $100,000, Larson said.
Neilson could have potentially received an award of $500,000 in her lawsuit against the other driver, whose insurance policy did not cover all of it, according to court documents filed in the civil suit.
Banks eventually sent a settlement agreement to the other driver, purportedly with Neilson's signature on it, agreeing to settle the case for $25,000, the charges state.
"Lisa Neilson denied signing this document and stated her signature was forged," the charges state, adding that the forged signature was confirmed by a notary.
During a hearing for her civil suit, Neilson testified that "when she found out that Banks had lied to her about her case being settled, she 'was honestly devastated,' and that she 'felt victimized all over again,'" according to 4th District Judge Kraig Powell's final finding of fact in the case.
Larson said the incident with his client was not a one-time event for Banks.
Also during the civil court proceedings, Larson said he presented other cases in which Banks misrepresented clients — including a divorce settlement, another personal injury case, and an adoption case — showing he has a long pattern of fundamental dishonesty.
"Honestly is the most fundamental thing a lawyer needs to have," Larson said. "Any time you're in a position to help somebody, you're in a position to hurt someone."
Powell noted in his final findings of fact that Banks and his office, Workman Banks LLP, "engaged in willful, malicious and intentionally fraudulent conduct by creating a fake settlement check."
The judge awarded Neilson $400,000 in compensatory damages, $425,000 in punitive damages and nearly $51,000 in attorney's fees, for a total of $875,914.76, while the state received $375,000 for its share of punitive damages. The total judgment is more than $1.2 million.
"We're happy about it, particularly with the fact there was such a strong award of punitive damages, which are rarely given in Utah," Larson said of the judgment.
But again, Larson said the judgment may end up being nothing more than a moral victory. In February 2021, Banks filed for bankruptcy, according to court records.
"Although I feel somewhat vindicated, heard, and understood finally, it is also a hollow victory. Banks has no assets in his name," Neilson said. "With no requirement for him to carry malpractice insurance, of course, there was none. Additionally, the Utah Client Protection Fund is lacking and thus offers no ability for me to recover anything from it, either. That has been extremely frustrating, especially considering that it is highly uncommon for punitive damages to be awarded."
According to Neilson, Utah law does not do enough to protect the public from attorneys like Banks.
"They need to reexamine how the agencies governing attorneys operate. You just assume that there are things in place to protect you from these types of attorneys. It seems more ridiculous that there would not be, but shockingly, the truth is there is little to no protection for those injured by an attorney's reckless and criminal actions."
Still, Neilson said while it would be nice to collect the money that was awarded, it isn't why she filed her lawsuit.
"It was about stopping him from damaging others," she said.
"I have had several emotions over these past years: disbelief, shock, sadness, extreme anxiety, anger, frustration, you name it, I have likely experienced it, if not still experiencing it. I felt victimized over and over by him as he tried to intimidate me, in court hearings," Neilson continued.
"As I watched him manipulate the system and drag out hearing after hearing, disregarding order after order, deadline after deadline, I must say that this accident and subsequent actions by Banks to victimize me further has been one of the worst experiences of my life. This was a very straightforward case. There is no rhyme or reason as to why he did what he did. That may be the most puzzling part of all of this," she said.
Neilson encouraged others who may need to hire an attorney in the future to check their disciplinary record and get a copy of their malpractice insurance before hiring that person.
"I thought because I had a personal connection to him that he would have a vested interest in taking care of my situation. I was wrong," she said. "In the end, I just want my experience to prevent others from being damaged and from experiencing all the senseless distress that I did."
