SAN FRANCISCO — Los Altos attorney Steven James Foster faces stayed suspension and probation after he admitted to misconduct in Colorado and was censured in that state, according to a recent State Bar of California recommendation.
The state bar court recommended Foster receive a stayed one-year suspension and a year of probation, according to the 12-page decision issued Feb. 15 by the California State Bar Court.
In April 2017, Foster was publicly censured by the Colorado Supreme Court when he did not repay a $1,000 loan he obtained from one of his clients on time, according to the decision. Foster stipulated before the Colorado high court that his action was in violation of Colorado court rules that limit the type of business transactions allowed between attorneys and their clients, according to the California State Bar Court decision.
The effective date of the Colorado Supreme Court's order and public censure was the month prior to the order, according to the decision.
The California State Bar 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.
Foster's recommended discipline was among the dispositions filed earlier this month by the state bar court's hearing department for February.
Foster was first admitted to the California bar on Dec. 11, 1987, according to his profile at the state bar website.
In a previous discipline, Foster was publicly reproved in September 2014 for misconduct he allegedly committed during his divorce in Colorado, according to the decision. In that matter Foster was reciprocally disciplined in California for his actions in the other state after he failed to maintain a legal or just action "by refiling and relitigating a judicial bias claim in his sixth appeal arising from divorce proceedings," the decision said.
Foster also was alleged to have commenced an action "for the purpose of harassing his ex-wife," the decision said.