LOS ANGELES — Kimberly Allyson Hansen, a California licensed attorney practicing in Euless, Texas, has been suspended from the practice of law for 18 months by the State Bar Court of California.
Hansen allegedly displayed moral turpitude when she, along with other members of her firm, misled the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB) in one case.
In the matter, Hansen represented the companies named as defendants in a man’s workers' compensation claim. The plaintiff named the company where he sustained his injury, Vulcan Materials Co., and the insurance adjuster that denied his original claim, Zurich North America.
Hansen, on behalf of her client, submitted medical examination requests in February 2009 but her initial Qualified Medical Examiner Panel (QME) was returned due to insufficient information. It was around this time that the plaintiff sent Hansen a letter requesting a settlement and notifying the attorney of his intent to move forward with filing a declaration of readiness for trial.
Hansen refiled the QME, which was again rejected for the same reason. The lack of QME became a point of contention in the proceedings, and Hansen failed to inform the board that she had received responses to her first two requests and that a QME panel had been issued for September 2009 in response to her third request.
Hansen was given several more opportunities to inform the WCAB of the QME requests, but failed to do so. This led to sanctions being placed upon Hansen and her firm.
The State Bar Court suspended Hansen for 18 months followed by three years' probation. If she does not meet the terms of her discipline, she faces a three-year suspension.
Hansen was admitted to the California State Bar in 1993 upon graduating from the Western State University College of Law in Irvine. She has one prior record of discipline from 2011 for providing false information in a bankruptcy petition.