10 Aug 1st-Aug 7th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | “admonition” and fined him $600. Speaking to New Times, Negrete main- tained he did nothing wrong and said he accepted a plea deal to avoid a trial that could have resulted in a felony conviction and disbarment. He said he didn’t report the conviction to the bar because an ethics attorney said he didn’t have to, and while he thinks he knows who filed the bar complaint, he doesn’t believe Rafi had anything to do with it. Negrete’s more recent state bar run-ins have brought stiffer punishments. On Feb. 9, 2023, the bar suspended Negrete’s license for a year and fined him $1,200 after he falsified emails submitted to the bar to cover up his firm’s failure to send a required document to pay a medical lien. The bar credited Negrete for taking responsibility for forging the emails, though he said on his podcast that he did so to cover an employee’s oversight. While suspended, Negrete sold his practice AZ Hometown Law Firm to the Los Angeles-based firm Sweet James, but he again landed in hot water with the bar. On April 15 of this year, Negrete was again fined $1,200 and his suspension was extended for three months in part because he failed to properly inform his clients about the sale of his firm, transferring their files to Sweet James without obtaining their consent. The same bar investigation found that Negrete’s firm submitted a falsified and backdated Notice of Claim — again, Negrete said, to cover up an earlier over- sight — to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in a 2021 personal injury case. Earlier this year, Negrete’s former client in the case filed a civil suit over the same issue, including a sworn declaration from a process server who claimed Negrete personally asked him to deliver the falsi- fied document. Negrete claimed in both the lawsuit and to the bar that one of the firm’s paralegals — Jason Keller, a former attorney who served prison time for smuggling heroin into jail — had actually committed the offense. The bar said Negrete was guilty only of insufficient supervision. Speaking to New Times, Negrete said computer metadata and phone and email records show he was not involved in the scheme. Three days after extending Negrete’s suspension, the bar dismissed a complaint that Negrete had “collected an unreason- able fee from your client’s medical payments insurance coverage” after Negrete refunded the fee. Still, the bar’s letter to Negrete noted that the “dismissal decision does not mean we decided you did not violate the Rules of Professional Conduct.” Much of Negrete’s 80-minute conversa- tion with New Times concerned those judgments. He noted that all of them, including the information featured on WhoIsGilNegrete.com, are public record. “I’m very transparent. I’ve never hid behind any of these things,” Negrete said. “I’ve only grown from them.” As for WhoIsGilNegrete.com, Negrete said he wasn’t aware of the site until New Times brought it to his attention. He suspects Rafi is behind it, even if there’s little evidence to prove it. New Times also asked RLG about the website, but the state- ment Mohamed provided did not address that question. New Times emailed questions to both Rafi and Negrete, including about the site, on July 3. By July 8, WhoIsGilNegrete.com had been placed in “maintenance mode.” Far from over In the days since he posted his two Rafi takedown podcast episodes, Negrete has hardly run from the feud. He’s hyped the beef on the show’s Instagram page, including the Rafi v. Negrete civil case number — CV2024- 003021 — in his bio. He released another podcast episode July 1, striking a calmer but no less tenacious tone. “I’m going to aggressively defend,” Negrete said on the episode. “Full-court press, video depositions, everything. I told you, Brandon, if you were going to file a lawsuit against me, if you were going to bring Rafi Law Group into the lawsuit, then I’m going to bring out and flush out everything.” In his statement, Mohamed said RLG is holding its ground. “The purpose of this lawsuit,” the statement said, “is to once and for all put an end to Mr. Negrete’s baseless claims.” The statement added: “For years, Gil Negrete has used ‘anonymous sources’ to regularly and consistently defame Mr. Rafi, Mr. Rafi’s family members, Rafi Law Group employees, and Rafi Law Group, with no regard for how his unprofessional behavior will impact others. Multiple attempts were made directly to Mr. Negrete from Mr. Rafi and other members of Rafi Law Group asking him to cease this unprofessional behavior; these went unanswered leaving Mr. Rafi no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit.” On July 8, Negrete’s attorney, Geoff Sturr, filed an answer to Rafi’s complaint. It denied Rafi’s allegations that Negrete made the bomb threat, engineered the home invasion and is @LawyerFiles. It said Rafi’s complaint “fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted” and asked that the suit be dismissed with prejudice. As for submitting a bar complaint against Rafi or Mohamed, Negrete is less bellicose now than he was in late June. On his podcast, Negrete said he’s undecided about doing so, a position he reiterated to New Times. “I’m not about trying to bring down other lawyers,” Negrete said during his July 1 episode. Rafi might be the exception. During an earlier podcast episode, Negrete compared the feud to the viral war of words between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Rafi had “walked into the lion’s den,” Negrete said. “This is real lawyer beef. Shutting him down.” Speaking to New Times on July 3, Negrete was no less determined to nail Rafi to the wall. “I feel like this is going to be his undoing,” Negrete said. Negrete’s suspension ended July 10, meaning he can apply to have his law license reinstated. He plans to do so at some point, he said, but he’s not in a hurry. While suspended, he’s poured his time into his marketing firm, which does work for Valley Injury Lawyers as well as Lerner and Rowe, the Valley’s other omnipresent personal injury firm. Kevin Rowe of that firm is a part owner of Valley Injury Lawyers. But whether he rejoins the profession or not, Negrete certainly is the talk of it. His feud with Rafi has created a buzz among Phoenix’s personal injury attor- neys, whose faces and catchphrases many Valley residents know by heart. But “those are just the billboard lawyers,” Negrete said, using a label he once would have self-applied. “Most of the other lawyers don’t really give a shit.” Lawyer Beef from p 8 Brandon Rafi’s face is all over Phoenix. In his lawsuit, he claims Gil Negrete has damaged his reputation. (Photo by Danielle Cortez)
