Law360 and American Lawyer: Brewer Client Sylvia Benito Files Suit Alleging Fraud and Contract Breaches by New York Attorney
October 21st, 2025 – Law360 and American Lawyer report that a lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court, Suffolk County, details what the complaint describes as a series of schemes by attorney Edward J. Lake and his firm, The Law Office of Edward J. Lake, P.C. d/b/a The Lake Law Firm, to mislead investors and misuse millions in litigation-finance funds.
Filed on behalf of Sylvia Benito, a Florida-based investment professional, the suit alleges that defendants cultivated investor confidence through claims of guaranteed returns and proprietary case-acquisition models in the mass-torts litigation finance space. According to the complaint, those assurances masked a pattern of financial misconduct, including the diversion of investor funds and the use of new investments to pay off prior obligations.
The complaint asserts claims for breach of contract, fraudulent inducement, negligent misrepresentation, and constructive trust. Benito seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as disgorgement of profits allegedly earned through her investments.
According to the filing, Benito and her associates invested more than $15 million with Lake Law. The complaint alleges that defendants failed to deliver on the case portfolios promised and later induced Benito to provide additional funding under false pretenses, including loans totaling more than $1 million that were never repaid.
The lawsuit also alleges that Benito personally invested $1.5 million to acquire Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) claims, only to discover that Lake instead purchased those claims for himself while characterizing her investment as a loan. The complaint contends that this deprived her of any potential return and reflected a broader pattern of deception.
“Our client seeks to hold a lawyer accountable for betraying the trust of investors and misusing their money under the guise of legal expertise,” said William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors. “Ms. Benito seeks justice for herself and the many others who were deceived by false promises and fraudulent guarantees.”
According to the filing, Lake’s actions not only violated his contractual obligations but also abused the position of trust he held with investors, who relied on his representations of expertise and integrity. The complaint calls for compensatory and punitive damages, disgorgement of profits, and the imposition of a constructive trust over assets belonging to Lake and his firm.