SAN FRANCISCO — Attorney Corecia Joy Woo of Elk Grove, California, recently was disbarred following a conviction for a DUI.
The disbarment ruling was handed down Nov. 18.
The State Bar Court of California's decision stems from Woo’s conviction of driving with a blood-alcohol level of at least 0.08 percent.
In October 2013, Woo plead nolo contendere to the misdemeanor. The Review Department of the Office of the Chief Trial Counsel of the State Bar of California examined the case and forwarded it to the Hearing Department on June 10, 2015. The department determined that Woo’s actions did not “involve moral turpitude, but do involve other misconduct warranting discipline.”
The hearing found that Woo had intended to drive from Sacramento to her home in Auburn before being stopped early into her journey for an unsafe lane change. A field sobriety test was conducted along with a breath test. Woo allegedly had a blood-alcohol level of 0.12 percent, 0.04 percent above the legal-impairment limit. Woo had a previous DUI conviction from 1998, to which she pleaded no contest.
Other factors in determining Woo’s disbarment include the alleged violation of her probation. Court documents said that Woo “has been on disciplinary probation off and on since November 2007.” Woo was on a five-year probation that began in late January 2012. A condition of her probation required the attorney to provide the Office of Probation with a quarterly report to detail her compliance. Woo allegedly failed to report her DUI arrest in her January report, which not only violated the terms of her probation, but also indicated that she had lied under perjury.
Woo submitted a late version of her October 2013 quarterly reports, which was her third version of the report, none of which included the DUI. It was not until the courts learned of the incident through alternative means that the attorney refiled the report to include the missing information. Woo was in the beginning stages of a mini-reinstatement proceeding during this time.
The State Bar Court concluded that Woo had violated her probation and shown moral turpitude. The facts of the case were considered in conjunction with her prior discipline proceedings, and disbarment was recommended.
According to the court documents, the ruling says Woo must notify all her clients of the ruling, deliver any papers necessary to clients in regards to their cases, return any fees that remain unearned, and alert opposing counsel in any pending litigation of his disbarment. Woo must then file the clerk of the State Bar Court that she has complied with the provisions of his disbarment.
The 46-year-old attorney graduated from Pepperdine’s School of Law and was admitted to the California Bar Association in 2001.
The California State Bar was established in 1927 by the state’s Legislature and is governed by 19 trustees. The State Bar Court added appointed full-time judges in 1989. Court documents for all State Bar Court of California cases can be located online at calbar.ca.gov.