Los Angeles attorney Francesca Angela de la Flor, admitted to the bar almost 43 years ago, has been disbarred by the California State Bar after being found culpable of multiple counts of misconduct, according to a recent decision.
De la Flor originally was charged with 11 counts of professional misconduct in an alleged breach of a commercial lease, multiple fraudulent conveyances and creation of alter ego entities, according to the state bar's decision and order of involuntary inactive enrollment issued Aug. 24. Those charges included committing acts of moral turpitude, seeking to mislead a judge, presenting false evidence to a court and giving false and misleading testimony during trial, according to the 32-page decision.
The state bar court dismissed five of those counts as duplicative, according to the decision.
The state bar's decision is pending final action by the California Supreme Court, an appeal before the state bar's review department or expiration of time in which parties to may request further review within the state bar court.
De la Flor was admitted to the bar in California on Dec. 20, 1974, according to her profile at the state bar website.
Charges against De la Flor involved multiple real estate transactions and litigation that are detailed in the state bar's decision, partially from a long-running commercial lease dispute with the actual misconduct dated to 2010.
That the case against her involved multiple acts of misconduct, moral turpitude and false and misleading testimony during trial were considered a significant aggravating factor, as was significant harm to the creditors and administration of justice, according to the decision. De la Flor also demonstrated indifference toward rectification of or atonement for the consequences of her misconduct, which also was considered an aggravating factor, according to the decision.
Her factual stipulation was a mitigating circumstance, candor and cooperation with her victims and the state bar were considered mitigating factors, according to the decision. "Although [De la Flor] was admitted to the State Bar in 1974, some 43 years ago, she has not always practiced law," the decision said.