Edward Davis Fagan (born October 20, 1952, Harlingen, Texas) is a former American reparations lawyer who was disbarred for his conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
Fagan lost his license in both New York[2] and New Jersey for failing to pay court fines, and stealing client money and escrow trust funds from Holocaust survivors, some of whom he represented in the 1996-98 World Jewish Congress-initiated lawsuit against Swiss banks.
While several hundred people and German and American representatives waited, Fagan, still wearing an ABCNEWS 20/20 microphone, could be heard "haggling over the fees, and then boasting of his success".
"[6]In 1998, Gizella Weisshaus, the named plaintiff in the lawsuit against Swiss banks, opted out of that historic settlement because she felt that her attorneys were more interested in paying themselves millions of dollars, even before some of the survivors had received any money.
On April 8, 1998, Weisshauss filed an attorney ethics complaint, claiming that Fagan, her lawyer at the time, held back $82,583.04 (~$154,375 in 2023) belonging to her from the estate of her deceased cousin Jack Oestreicher.
[7] In 2000, Fagan represented some 82,000 Holocaust victims and family members (many of whom later accused him of negligence), suing governments and companies in Germany and Austria based on the Alien Tort Claims Act.
[8] According to news reports by CNN, the "maverick lawyer" attempted to file a $50 billion class action lawsuit against Swiss-based UBS and Credit Suisse and U.S.-based Citicorp Inc. for providing funds to the South African apartheid government during 1985 and 1993.
and "Wash your dirty linen elsewhere", when he held a news conference on Zurich's Paradeplatz, home of the two biggest banks of Switzerland: Credit Suisse and UBS.
[12] In 2004, Fagan filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan for a non-existent group called the Association of Holocaust Victims for Restitution of Artwork & Masterpieces (AHVRAM) against Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG and other European corporate, governmental and financial institutions for $6.8 billion.
Kram noted that the "plaintiff organization AHVRAM did not exist," Fagan's "lack of preparation and professionalism, his 'glaringly inadequate filings,' and the fact that he deceived the court".
Fagan eventually deserted these clients after severely hurting their chances of any recovery due to his obstructionist and disingenuous involvement in their cases.
The lawsuit was directed against the Thai government, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the French hotel group Sofitel for insufficient quake and tsunami warnings.
The lawsuit was thrown out by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in a hearing in early December 2006 on the grounds that the charges were too vague to stand up in court.
[5] In another case, Fagan failed to submit a claim for Tom Giron to a New York state fund that compensates victims of uninsured motorists.
Giron was struck and severely injured in 1992 by a car reported stolen, but did not receive any compensation, because, according to Jeffrey Rubinton, the fund's president, a claim was never filed and "its records showed that such an action had not been pursued and that the statute of limitations on making one had long expired.
"[5] The Jewish Daily The Forward reported in October 2005[22] that Fagan was engaged in a legal investigation about published accusations and sexual contacts with underage prostitutes in Austria.
Austrian print[23][24] and broadcast media[25][26] reported that the state prosecutor in Vienna is looking into Fagan's contact with a prostitution ring that involved underage girls from Eastern Europe.