Ruth Ann Reid, an attorney in Laguna Niguel, was recently disbarred by the State Bar Court of California for falsely reporting to the state bar that she had completed the required minimum continuing legal education (MCLE) hours needed to keep her license in good standing.
On June 30, 2014, Reid said, under penalty of perjury, that she had completed the necessary 25 hours between Feb. 1, 2011, and Jan. 31, 2014, according to court documents. Reid did not provide documentation for the hours, which the State Bar Court deemed “grossly negligent.”
Several notices of disciplinary charges were sent to the attorney at the address on file with the state bar, but she failed to respond to any of them. A default was entered on Reid’s behalf in November 2015. The attorney failed to request that the motion be set aside within the allotted 90-day time period, and the recommendation for disbarment was enacted.
Reid will be required to comply with the California Rules of Court Rule 9.20 subsections (a) and (c) in regards to her disbarment. The rules require her to notify all her clients of the ruling, deliver any papers necessary to clients regarding their cases, return any fees that remain unearned and alert opposing counsel in any pending litigation of her disbarment. Reid must then notify the Clerk of the State Bar Court that she has complied with the provisions of her disbarment.
The California State Bar was established in 1927 by the state’s legislature and is governed by 19 trustees. The State Bar Court added full-time appointed judges in 1989.