SAN FRANCISCO — Tulsa, Oklahoma attorney Jeffrey Alan Dickstein, eligible to practice in California for almost 41 years, faces disbarment by default following a State Bar of California recommendation over misconduct that stemmed from his 2010 contempt conviction in federal court.
Dickstein allegedly failed to file proof of compliance with his probation handed down in 2016, according to the six-page decision and order of involuntary inactive enrollment issued Jan. 24 by the state bar court.
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.
Dickstein's recommended discipline was among the dispositions filed earlier this month by the state bar court's hearing department for January.
Dickstein was admitted to the bar in California on Dec. 22, 1976, according to his profile at the state bar website.
He was suspended in December 2015 following a California Supreme Court order over his 2010 misdemeanor contempt conviction in a federal district court, according to information on his state bar profile and the decision and order. Dickson, then 62, was suspended for 30 days, ordered to take the multistate professional responsibility examination, and then was placed on two years of probation and would have faced a one-year suspension for noncompliance with his disciplinary probation, according to his state bar profile.
The contempt conviction stemmed from his attempt in 2016 to withdraw as counsel for his clients in a trial for conspiracy to commit money laundering, tax evasion and wire fraud because they had not paid his fees, despite a standing order that he was not to do so, according to his state bar profile. The federal court found him in contempt in November of that year, according to his state bar profile.
Dickstein had no prior record of discipline in California, according to his state bar profile.
In October 2016, the state Supreme Court handed down an order revoking Dickstein's probation after he failed to comply with the terms of his disciplinary probation and did not participate in proceedings, according to the decision and order.