Kansas man fined and must refund client after pretending to be lawyer, DA’s Office says

A 53-year-old Derby man pretending to be a lawyer could have to pay $61,197 after he took $500 from a Sedgwick County woman under the pretense that he would represent her in a Social Security dispute, court records show.

If he successfully completes 40 months of probation, Andrew Wells, who went by the last name West when the woman visited his law office in Goddard, will have $57,000 of that forgiven.

Wells will have to pay $4,197, which includes the $500 he took from the woman plus fines and court fees, according to the consent judgment he signed off on this month.

Here is what court records say happened:

The woman went to the law office at 120 W. Second Street in Goddard on Dec. 2, 2022, looking for an attorney to “represent her in a social security payment dispute.”

Wells told her he would need $2,000 “to take the case because he would need to involve his legal team.” She accepted, and gave him her login for her Social Security and banking accounts.

She paid him $100 in cash that day, receiving a receipt that said “for lawsuit,” and paid him $100 in each of the following four months.

But, she kept receiving notices from Social Security about the dispute.

Her May 2023 “social security check was garnished in full and she received a letter ... that the remaining money she owed” would be taken from her June check.

She contacted Wells that month.

“Wells told (her) he was in the process of filing motions to fight the case.”

However, she asked that he return her documents and stop any further legal action.

“Wells did not return her documents. Wells told (her) the documents were at his offices in Augusta. Wells told (her) he would continue to fight the case.”

She filed a complaint with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office in April 2024. That same month, Wells told a DA investigator that he believed he owed the woman $300 and his intention was to return it.

“At all times relevant, Wells was not a licensed attorney in the State of Kansas ... Wells has never been licensed to practice law in the State of Kansas,” the court records say.

This story was originally published July 26, 2024 at 11:56 AM.