SAN FRANCISCO – Catherine Blakemore, who has spent her working life advocating and litigating for the rights of people with disabilities, has been recognized for her long-term commitment to the cause.
BERKELEY – Close to 40 young people from low-income communities from the East Bay area this year graduated from an annual two-month legal fellowship program.
SAN FRANCISCO – The California legislature’s failure to pass a bill to assess fees to attorneys to fund the State Bar has led to a request to the state’s highest court for interim power to assess and collect dues.
SAN FRANCISCO – An attorney already on probation for misconduct has been disbarred after being accused of failing to perform services for clients he charged.
SAN FRANCISCO – In the June issue of the California Bar Journal, reporter John Roemer discussed the growing cannabis industry and how industry supporters in the legal profession are laying the groundwork for the upcoming November elections that has recreational marijuana legalization on the ballot.
SAN FRANCISCO – President of the State Bar of California David Pasternak identified areas of needed improvement in a recent article in the California Bar Journal.
SAN FRANCISCO – In an August article for the California Bar Journal, Laura Ernde reported on the Sander v. State Bar of California case that will have closing briefs in September, heard by Judge Mary E. Wiss, to fully determine the necessary parameters needed to protect bar applicants’ privacy with regards to research publications.
SACRAMENTO – The California Assembly voted on new amendments on Aug. 19 related to a heavily disputed State Bar of California fee bill, which authorizes the agency to collect annual licensing fees from attorneys.
SAN FRANCISCO – Robert L. Anderson, an attorney who practiced in Santa Rosa, was disbarred May 28 for allegedly misappropriating $294,459 from two clients, arguing that he was only following instructions given to him by his firm’s managing partner.
SAN FRANCISCO – Marc Anthony Guillory, an attorney who practices law in
Oakland, was disbarred on May 28 for allegedly failing to provide his client with a
final billing statement as she requested.
SAN FRANCISCO – Reginald von Terrell, an attorney who practiced in Oakland, was disbarred May 28 after his default was entered for failing to appear at his disciplinary trial.
SAN FRANCISCO – Melvin Lee Emerich, an attorney who practiced in Los Altos, was disbarred April 15 as a result of his October 2014 conviction for accessory to felony grand theft, multiple counts of money laundering and filing false or forged deeds of trust.
SAN FRANCISCO – Richard Carroll Sinclair, an attorney who practices in Oakdale, was disbarred on March 18 due to engaging in a fraudulent real estate scheme, seeking and obtaining loans on false pretenses, skimming off loan proceeds, rental income, tenant deposits and other fees and making misrepresentations to courts to conceal and further the scheme to defraud, according to the State Bar of California.
SAN FRANCISCO – In November 2013, a State Bar judge argued that two Bay Area attorneys should be disbarred for cheating homeowners by promising to save their homes and then providing incompetent representation, or none at all, and turning their cases over to a non-lawyer. In March, the state Supreme Court agreed.
SAN FRANCISCO – Attorney James Patrick Klier, who practices in San Francisco, was suspended on March 19 from practicing law for 90 days and placed on probation for two years after he stipulated to failing to file tax returns for 11 years, based on a total of $1.3 million in earnings.
MODESTO – Attorney Justin Thomas Allen, who practices in Modesto, was suspended on March 18 from practicing law for six months and placed on probation for two years after he stipulated to failing to comply with conditions attached to an earlier disciplinary probation order.
SAN FRANCISCO – The State Bar of California released its annual discipline report in June, which addressed the improvements made within the last year, as well as room for improvements in future studies.
