Lynn lawyer disbarred

LYNN – A Lynn attorney who practiced law for over 48 years has been disbarred for allegedly using thousands of dollars of his client’s money to feed his “pathological gambling problem,” according to the Supreme Judicial Court’s Board of Bar Overseers.Bruce Sachar began practicing law in 1960 and was disbarred on Feb. 24, according to SJC documents, which show he had an office on Lewis Street.Sachar submitted a letter of resignation Feb. 17 to the SJC.Court papers say Sachar allegedly dipped into an IOLTA account that held money for four of his clients that were in the midst of a legal battle over assets in the estate of a family member.IOLTA is an acronym for “Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts” and every lawyer in the state is required to maintain one for a client. The account requires lawyers and law firms to establish interest-bearing accounts for client deposits which are held for a short period of time. The lawyers are not supposed to dip into the accounts for personal uses, though they are trusted with the money.Court papers do not say exactly how much money Sachar allegedly stole but indicate it was a few thousand dollars.After reaching a settlement in October 2007, the family members, identified as Dante DeFuria Jr., Steven DeFuria, Dianne Cotton and David LeBlanc, attempted to contact Sachar for several months to collect some of the money they deposited into his IOLTA account. Finally, in August 2008, Sachar met with a family member and “explained to him that he used the funds because of a pathological gambling problem,” court documents said.As of February, Sachar still had not made restitution to the DeFuria family.State laws regarding how lawyers maintain IOLTA accounts are strict. They emphasize the lawyer’s responsibility to keep an open line of communication between himself and the client, as well as safekeeping the money and maintain proper accounting.Because he has been disbarred, Sachar cannot practice law for at least eight years.