In fact, the company's Rancho Palos Verdes headquarters is in a small office suite where on a recent day only one person was working. Many of Paramount's other offices appear to be homes or small businesses operating under a different name.
Paramount's principal employees are Slepcevic; his mother-in-law, Sue Manners; and, until recently, Matthew Todd, a California attorney whose disciplinary record with the state bar runs more than 100 pages.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday, August 04, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 35 words Type of Material: Correction
Disaster recovery: An article in the July 5 Section A about the disaster recovery industry said that half of states license public insurance adjusters. According to the National Assn. for Insurance Commissioners, 46 states do.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, August 09, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 35 words Type of Material: Correction
Disaster recovery: An article in the July 5 Section A about the disaster recovery industry said that half of states license public insurance adjusters. According to the National Assn. for Insurance Commissioners, 46 states do.
Despite his legal and financial troubles, Slepcevic drives a Mercedes-Benz and lives in a $1.6-million Redondo Beach home with an ocean view. Over the years, he has earned up to $80,000 monthly, divorce records show.
In addition to heading Paramount, Slepcevic runs the National Disaster Summit, a for-profit educational conference that serves as an advertising vehicle for disaster services. He charges other self-described disaster experts $3,000 for 45 minutes on stage.
Todd, who recently stepped down as vice president but still provides legal services to Paramount, has filed for bankruptcy protection five times and, since 1996, been disciplined by the state bar three times, including two suspensions.
In state bar court, Todd stipulated to violations including misappropriating a client's insurance settlement and several other acts of "moral turpitude, dishonesty or corruption." He is participating in an alternative discipline program for lawyers who attribute their troubles to substance abuse or mental problems, according to state bar attorney Monique Miller. His license was recently reinstated.
Slepcevic and Todd, who joined the company in 2005, built the business as legal complaints mounted. They often fought government regulators by filing copious challenges on everything from technical to constitutional grounds. Many civil lawsuits were simply ignored, leaving plaintiffs to pursue default judgments, court records show.
Paramount "pushed the envelope," said Trudy Slepcevic, Slepcevic's second wife and the company's bookkeeper from 1997 to 2002, when the couple separated. Slepcevic was "doing business in a manner that appears highly inappropriate in order to maximize his profits," she said in a later divorce declaration.
Her father, Rudy Linke, offered an example in his own declaration in the divorce, saying he had accompanied Slepcevic to a house whose roof had suffered minor wind damage. Slepcevic poked holes in the roof, explaining that there was "not enough damage to the property," Linke said.
