Two lawsuits filed by a San Francisco law firm Monday highlight the legal issues that arise when an elderly bank customer is scammed out of his or her bank account by a con artist and then alleges that the bank should have intervened to prevent the loss.

While the two cases — filed in the superior courts of San Mateo and Los Angeles counties — involve different and unconnected frauds, JPMorgan Chase was the bank in each case and is alleged to bear financial liability for its customers’ lost funds.

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Joe Dworetzky is a second career journalist. He practiced law in Philadelphia for more than 35 years, representing private and governmental clients in commercial litigation and insolvency proceedings. Joe served as City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia under Mayor Ed Rendell and from 2009 to 2013 was one of five members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission with responsibility for managing the city’s 250 public schools. He moved to San Francisco in 2011 and began writing fiction and pursuing a lifelong interest in editorial cartooning. Joe earned a Master’s in Journalism from Stanford University in 2020. He covers Legal Affairs and writes long form Investigative stories. His occasional cartooning can be seen in Bay Area Sketchbook. Joe encourages readers to email him story ideas and leads at joe.dworetzky@baycitynews.com.