LOS ANGELES — The State Bar Court of California recently disbarred B. Kwaku Duren, a Compton attorney, following an investigation into allegations that the attorney had failed to preform legal services, obey a court order and for sharing legal fees with non-attorneys.
According to the March 1 ruling, Duren’s misconduct charges stem from a single client matter. Though the information provided in court documents does not offer detailed information, it provides an outline of the missteps the attorney made. In the matter, Duren was charged with failing to preform legal services with competence for allegedly failing to respond to discovery requests, meet and confer, respond to motions to compel or appear at a hearing on behalf of a client.
In September 2013, Duren received a court order to respond to the prior discovery request and pay sanctions to the court. He allegedly failed to do so. The final count against the attorney was for sharing attorney fees with non-attorneys, though the documents do not state the nature of the relationship between the attorney and the person receiving the fees.
The Office of the Chief Trial Counsel sent a notice of disciplinary charges (NDC) to the attorney on Feb. 25, 2016, requesting a response to the charges and informing Duren that failure to respond would result in a disbarment recommendation. After the NDC went unanswered and several other attempts to contact the attorney were to no avail, the California State Bar entered a default on the attorney’s behalf.
Duren, a graduate of the Peoples College of Law in Los Angeles, was admitted to the California State Bar in 1990. During his 30-year career, Duren has been disciplined on three occasions. He was suspended in 2013 and 2014 and voluntarily resigned amid charges against him in 2016.