Dearborn — A Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission investigator has recommended for discipline a Dearborn attorney who is running for a state House seat Tuesday, after finding he allegedly misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars of his clients’ settlement money.
Jalal Abdullah, one of the Democratic candidates for Michigan’s 15th House District’s primary election on Tuesday, was recommended for discipline following an investigation that found he’d failed to promply pay multiple clients, according to a March 16 memo by the AGC’s Commissioner Michael Goetz, who is the agency’s chief prosecutor for attorney misconduct.
A hearing is to be held, in which a three-person panel will hear testimony to determine what discipline, if any, will be meted out to Abdullah.
(Abdullah) knowingly and intentionally misappropriated client funds when he received settlement checks and either retained all the funds for himself or failed to distribute to his clients the full amounts to which they were entitled,” Goetz’s memo alleged. “… (Abdullah) intentionally commingled non-client funds with settlement funds to which his clients were entitled.”
It wasn’t immediately clear from the Attorney Grievance Commission administrator’s investigative report the total amount of misappropriated money, but the examples from 26 clients listed in charts in the report indicated that Abdallah allegedly failed to pay tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars owed to his clients from settlement checks.
Reached by telephone Sunday, Abdullah referred questions to his attorney, Phil Thomas, who declined to comment, citing the pending case.
According to Goetz’s memo, the AGC launched its investigation in March 2024 after it received notice from Chase Bank that on March 22, 2024, a check for $1,919.96 had been returned for insufficient funds in Abdullah’s Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account, (IOLTA). IOLTA accounts are set up for attorneys to deposit clients’ money, with the interest earned sent to the Michigan State Bar Foundation to fund civil legal aid.
The AGC asked Abdullah to explain how the check had bounced, and, according to Goetz’s memo, he replied: “What happened in this circumstance was that my assistant handed me a blank check for my IOLTA Account ending in 6937 but the money was supposed to be withdrawn from my operating account ending in 3983. I was in a hurry for a meeting and, negligently, wrote out the check and put it into an envelope for my assistant to mail out.”
In May 2024, the ACG’s Assistant Deputy Administrator Cynthia Bullington emailed Abdullah and asked him to provide a reconciliation of the funds going into and out of his IOLTA account.
“That day, (Abdullah) responded and asked why he had to provide a reconciliation,” the memo said. “Ms. Bullington advised (Abdullah) that when reviewing overdraft matters, the AGC reviews the transactions in the IOLTA to ensure the IOLTA is being handled appropriately. On May 13, 2024, (Abdullah) stated via email that he was trying to get more details from his bank to make sure his records were ‘100% accurate’ for the investigation and asked if he could have until the following day to provide them.
“Ms. Bullington advised Respondent he could have until the next day to provide the records,” the memo said. “(Abdullah) never provided the records.”
A year later, on May 5, 2025, the AGC sent an email to Abdullah, reminding him that he hadn’t provided the records, according to Goetz’s memo.
“Approximately 20 minutes later, (Abdullah) replied, ‘I gave the bank account statements to you guys. What more do you need?'” Goetz’s memo said.
In a seperate May 5, 2025 email, ACG staff counsel replied: “During the time period in question, there were multiple large electronic transfers from your IOLTA to your business account; without a ledger or check register or some other form of reconciliation, we have no way of knowing what those transfers were,” the memo said.
“(Abdullah) replied via email less than an hour later, ‘no one explained anything before…What is with all this rhetoric about ‘Multiple large transactions’ from my IOLTA to business account?
Further investigation found Abdullah had failed to promptly pay multiple clients the full amount of their settlement, and that he “misappropriated his above-mentioned clients’ settlement funds.
“On July 18, 2025, the Grievance Administrator issued a subpoena to (Abdullah), demanding settlement sheets/statements for eight clients that appeared to have been underpaid or not paid at all, as well as proof of all funds disbursed to those clients.”
The probe also found that Abdullah allegedly failed “to hold property of clients or third persons inconnection with a representation separate from his own property, and failed to deposit client or third-person funds in an IOLTA account, in violation” of ethical guidelines established by the American Bar Association.
According to the Attorney Grievance Commissions website, after an investigation is complete, “a former complaint is filed with the Attorney Discipline Board … the ADB appoints a hearing panel consisting of three volunteer attorneys to preside over the matter. The matter can be decided through a public hearing following which the hearing panel must issue a report determining whether the attorney engaged in misconduct.
“If misconduct is not found, the formal complaint must be dismissed,” the AGC said. “If misconduct is found, the hearing panel must then hold a hearing regarding the appropriate discipline to impose. Alternatively, the Grievance Administrator and the respondent can file a stipulation for order of consent discipline without the need of a hearing. The hearing panel can impose public discipline consisting of a reprimand, suspension, disbarment, or probation.”
Abdullah is running in Tuesday’s primary election against fellow Democrats Leslie Herrick and Gary Woronchak.Hassan Nehme is the sole Republican candidate.
According to Abdullah’s campaign website, he opened his practice in 2021, handling family law and personal injury cases. He also serves on Dearborn’s Historical Commission.
ghunter@detroitnews.com
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@GeorgeHunter_DN
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: House candidate, an attorney, accused in alleged misappropiration of clients’ funds
Reporting by George Hunter, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By George Hunter, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
