James Rudolph Andrews of Chandler, Arizona, faces disbarment by default following a California State Bar recommendation after he was suspended in Arizona over allegations that included practicing law without a license.
A California State Bar Court recommended disbarment after Andrews allegedly failed to respond to its official inquiry, according to the nine-page decision and order of involuntary inactive enrollment issued Dec. 7.
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 may request further review within the state bar court.
Andrews's recommended discipline was among the dispositions filed earlier this month by the state bar court's hearing department for December.
Andrews was admitted to the California bar Oct. 11, 2011, according to his profile at the state bar website. Andrews had had no prior discipline before the state bar but he was suspended in California in July 2016 and this past July for failing to pay his state bar dues, according to his profile.
He also was under suspension in Arizona for not paying his bar dues in that state when he filed pleadings in a superior court, according to the decision and order. However, Andrews "did not practice law in California; he practiced law in Arizona when he was not entitled to do so," the decision and order said.
In December 2015, a disciplinary judge in Arizona handed down a final judgment accepting Andrews' discipline by consent, suspending him for one year and placing him on two years of supervised probation, according to the April 2016 edition of Arizona Attorney. Andrews also was ordered to pay about $36,247 in restitution to two former clients and costs and expenses of $1,200, according to the Arizona Attorney.
In the Arizona proceedings, in addition to practicing law in Arizona without a license, Andrews also was alleged to have overdrawn his trust account, written four insufficient funds checks and failed to pay several recorded medical liens for two clients, according to the Arizona Attorney.
The California State Bar's Office of Chief Trial Counsel initiated proceedings against Andrews on Feb. 22, 2017, according to the decision and order. The California state bar filed its entry for default against Andrews the following May.