In an era where digital communication rules, one lawyer exhibited the power of taking things “offline”. Charles W. Hands III, an attorney from the Hands Law Firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina, saved homeowner Samuel Helmick from what could have been a $450k legal and financial disaster.
As detailed by the Above the Law report, Hands and his paralegal, Devera Alston, had grown apprehensive when a man who was seeking a “cash-out refinance” never appeared for a scheduled Zoom meeting. To get to the bottom of this, they decided to make a 29-mile round trip to the listed property.
The property belonged to Samuel Helmick, who, surprisingly enough, knew nothing about a refinancing plan. As it turns out, the man they were supposed to meet via Zoom had fraudulently obtained Helmick’s personal information, including a driver’s license and tax records, to impersonate him online.
The duo’s face-to-face visit to the property stopped the fraudulent actor in his tracks and saved Helmick from an impending financial mishap. The scammer’s plot was foiled solely because Hands and Alston decided they needed to trust their instincts.
The actions of Hands and Alston underscore the essential role of intuition in law practice, an intuition that is buttressed by experience. Hands, a financial expert, emphasizes the importance of direct, in-person communication when dealing with hefty legal and financial matters, even in a time where digital communication platforms are the norm.
The full report is available in the original article by Chris Williams from Above the Law. Williams is a social media manager and assistant editor for the publication, and had previously served at the law school social media site Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.
Williams can be reached via email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and through his Twitter handle @WritesForRent.