Misrepresentation When Selling Practice Results in $586K Damages Against Dr. Lawrence Smith

When Dr. Anne M. Fabricius purchased a dental practice in Oak Park, Illinois from Dr. Lawrence Smith, she relied on the patient records and financial documentation Smith provided as the basis for the transaction. Those records, a Cook County jury later determined, were fraudulent. In August 2014, Fabricius and her professional corporation, Oak Park Prosthodontics Ltd., filed suit against Lawrence Smith, his wife Corinne A. Smith, and their company Distinctive Dental Services Ltd., alleging that Smith had misrepresented patient volumes and inflated practice revenues to secure the sale.

The case was tried before Cook County Associate Judge James E. Snyder and decided in Fabricius’s favor. The jury awarded a total of $586,930: $187,693 in compensatory damages reflecting documented financial harm, $309,051 in punitive damages reflecting the deliberateness of Smith’s conduct, and $90,186 in accrued interest. The punitive component — nearly double the compensatory award — signals that the jury regarded the misrepresentation as calculated rather than incidental. The court also found that Smith had defrauded patients and insurance companies as part of the revenue inflation, making the fraud to Fabricius part of a broader pattern of financial misconduct within the practice.

Practice acquisition is among the highest-risk financial events in a dentist’s career. Buyers must rely almost entirely on the seller’s representations about revenue, patient retention, and outstanding liabilities. The Lawrence Smith case demonstrates that fraud in a practice sale can be successfully prosecuted — but doing so requires years of litigation and substantial legal cost. Independent forensic review of a practice’s financial records prior to acquisition is the protection that prevents this outcome from being the only recourse available.

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