Ross attorney suspended after false insurance claim
A North Hills attorney consented to a suspension of his law license by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board after he filed a false insurance claim.
Ryan D. Breen, whose practice is registered at 1000 McKnight Park Drive in Ross, will be permitted to return to the practice of law after one year and one day.
He was admitted to practice in May 2014.
According to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Breen was driving his personal vehicle, a Subaru WRX at the Pittsburgh International Racing Complex in Wampum on June 7, 2017, at “Track Night of America.”
While driving, the board’s petition said, Breen crashed into a guardrail.
The next day, the filing said, Breen filed a claim with his insurance company, Erie Insurance, saying he struck a guardrail to avoid hitting a deer while on the way to his girlfriend’s house with a pizza.
Erie paid $21,299 for the damage to the vehicle, but a subsequent investigation by the company revealed the information about the crash at the track, the filing said.
The company contacted the Allegheny County police, and Breen was charged with insurance fraud in 2019. In July, he was accepted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition Program.
That requires Breen to complete two years probation, pay full restitution of $8,453.93 to Erie Insurance — after the company sold his vehicle — as well as a $5,000 civil penalty, serve 50 hours community service and agree to a suspension of his law license.
The board found that Green violated the Rules of Professional Conduct by committing a criminal act that “reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects.”
Mr. Breen’s father, David Breen, who is also an attorney, said they had no comment.
The Office of Disciplinary Counsel listed several factors as mitigating circumstances, including that Ryan Breen cooperated, accepted responsibility for his actions and has been embarrassed by his loss of law license and reputation, as well as the fact that the misconduct did not involve his clients or law practice.
Because of the length of his suspension, Breen will be required to prove his fitness to practice in formal reinstatement proceedings.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of "Death by Cyanide." She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
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