LOS ANGELES — Lawrence Allan Moy, an Irvine attorney, was recently disbarred from the practice of law by the State Bar Court of California.
Moy was found culpable Feb. 10 in five counts of misconduct in several client matters, although he was initially charged with 23. Four of the counts involved the attorney’s alleged inability to maintain client trust accounts and one count of failure to adequately communicate with a client about case status.
In the first matter, Moy allegedly failed to keep his client trust account at $33,333 after a client’s settlement was deposited. Moy was also charged with misappropriating funds, failing to provide an accounting of the funds, failing to promptly pay out settlement funds and for not cooperating with the state bar’s investigation.
The second matter involved a failure to maintain a client trust account of $6,666. Moy’s charges were the same as in the first matter with the addition of his alleged failure to provide his client with the requested files.
Moy was charged with failing to communicate with a client about a case, failing to inform his client of documents that needed to be completed and failing to respond to the state bar’s inquiries. He was not found guilty in one charge of failing to preform legal services.
The attorney was charged in a fourth matter for co-mingling funds in a client trust. Moy allegedly deposited his own money into a client trust and issued several checks from the account. He received two additional charges for not responding to the state bar’s investigation and for failing to update his mailing address.
Three charges were made against Moy in the final matter, including failing to maintain a $4,300 balance in a client trust, misappropriating funds and failing to promptly pay a client.
Based on the amount of charges and separate instances, disbarment was recommended and enacted.
Moy was admitted to the California State Bar in 1993 after graduating from the Whittier College School of Law in California. The Orange County attorney had no prior record of discipline.