A Family That Needed
A Peacemaker.
Instead They Got
A Match.
Dr. Richard Allison — a physician, real estate investor, and father — created a trust in 1989 to provide for his children. When he died in 2017 after a long battle with dementia, Caroline and Richard Jr. simply wanted to understand what they were entitled to under the existing estate plan.
They did not go looking for a fight. What their attorneys withheld from them was critical: as beneficiaries, Caroline and Richard already had rights of access to income from the Family Trust. They did not need to litigate at all. That fact was never disclosed.
Instead, Borunda and Abaza immediately filed a will contest — the most aggressive nuclear option available — without explaining that losing could permanently disinherit them and their children. The escalation forced Robin's hand. She went straight for a disinheritance clause. A family that could have resolved things with a conversation was now in a multi-year legal war — one the attorneys had every financial reason to sustain.
After the first mediation, Robin asked for an apology. Caroline was ready to drop the case entirely. That's when Borunda pulled her into a private, off-the-record meeting and told her the case was "going to trial" and that she would "go bankrupt funding it." He said this knowing there was little to no evidence supporting trial — and while withholding the fact that Robin was signalling settlement. This is self-dealing: an attorney using superior knowledge of the case and the law to steer a client against her own interests, for the attorney's financial benefit. It is expressly prohibited in the legal profession. Borunda skirted the requirement to send Caroline to independent outside counsel, hoping she would never discover the omission.
Borunda convinced Caroline to convert from hourly billing to a 35% contingency fee — transforming a $70,000 legal bill into a potential $1.4 million payday. The new agreement contained a hidden mandatory arbitration clause, stripping Caroline of her jury rights and consumer protections without disclosure. By this point, Caroline had already funded the entire discovery phase — which gave her attorneys full visibility into her father's estate and confirmed how much money was at stake for them.
When the second mediation produced a rushed settlement, the attorneys gave up approximately $15 million in assets — then turned around and pursued a $4 million fee award. The arbitrator they selected, Anne Ashby, had a 35–40 year undisclosed personal and financial relationship with opposing counsel. When the rigged arbitration produced the award the attorneys expected, they did not believe the Allisons would ever discover it. They were wrong.
What followed was a Bill of Review — a petition to vacate the judgment on grounds of contrived fraud: a proceeding designed to look legitimate on the surface while orchestrating a theft underneath, and deliberately difficult to detect. Wayne Dolcefino and his investigative team caught them all red-handed.
The prolonged litigation contributed to Robin suffering a catastrophic stroke. She is now permanently brain damaged and under guardianship — her own estate now being depleted by the attorneys managing that guardianship. Robin's attorney, Michael Collins, had already billed approximately $500,000 in legal fees during the underlying probate litigation. Meanwhile, his legal assistant Deborah Jordan had befriended Robin after the settlement — and allegedly convinced Robin to grant her power of attorney over her estate. After Robin's stroke, according to court filings in the guardianship proceedings, Deborah Jordan is alleged to have absconded with prized possessions and assets totalling over $500,000.
Robin retained control over the marital trust and her own trust. But she lost her family, her health, and — according to the court record — much of what remained to someone who moved in the moment her attorney introduced them. Dead people cannot defend their estate plans. And the people left behind cannot always defend themselves either.
"We didn't realize until much later that their interests had nothing to do with our well-being, and everything to do with how much money they could take from my dad's trust."— Caroline Allison, GlobeNewswire, March 2026
Dr. Richard Allison dies. Caroline and Richard Jr. ask Robin for basic information about the estate — not knowing they already had rights of access to the Family Trust under the existing estate plan.
Attorneys file a will contest. Never disclosed: the clients already had trust access rights and had no reason to litigate. The nuclear option triggers Robin's disinheritance clause.
Robin signals she wants peace. Caroline is ready to drop the case. Borunda pulls her into a private off-the-record meeting — tells her it's going to trial and she'll go bankrupt. He withholds that Robin is signalling settlement. This is self-dealing, expressly prohibited under legal ethics rules.
Borunda convinces Caroline to convert from hourly to 35% contingency. A new agreement with a hidden mandatory arbitration clause strips her jury rights without disclosure. Her $70,000 legal bill becomes a potential $1.4M payday for her attorneys — who by now know the full value of her father's estate through discovery she funded.
Attorneys give up approximately $15 million in assets in a rushed morning settlement — then immediately pursue a $4 million fee award from what remained.
Arbitrator Anne Ashby — with a 35–40 year undisclosed relationship to opposing counsel — rubber-stamps the attorneys' brief as a $4 million award. The attorneys assumed the Allisons would never discover the rigged proceedings.
The Allisons file a Bill of Review to vacate the judgment on grounds of contrived fraud — a proceeding engineered to look legitimate while orchestrating a theft, deliberately hard to detect. Dolcefino's investigation exposed what the lawyers never expected anyone to find.
Robin suffers a catastrophic stroke — permanently brain damaged. Now under guardianship, her estate is being depleted by guardianship attorneys. Michael Collins had already billed ~$500K in legal fees. His legal assistant Deborah Jordan, who befriended Robin after the settlement and obtained power of attorney, is alleged in court filings to have absconded with over $500K in assets and possessions.
Bar complaints filed. FTC complaint submitted. Bill of Review pending. Four-part Dolcefino series published. Robin retains the marital trust and her trust — but has lost her family, her health, and much of what remained. Investigation ongoing.