SAN FRANCISCO (Northern California Record) – Menlo Park attorney Imran A. Khaliq faces possible disbarment following a recently announced California State Bar Court recommendation over the assault of his girlfriend in 2015.
"On Aug. 9, 2015, Imran Khaliq violently assaulted and beat his girlfriend, leaving her severely bruised and with two black eyes, among other injuries, when she refused to have sex with him," the 20-page decision and order of involuntary inactive enrollment issued Aug. 17 by the state bar court said.
The court found Khaliq's alleged misconduct "involved a serious breach of a duty owed to another, flagrant disrespect for the law and for societal norms," the decision and order said.
The state bar court's recommendation included an order that rendered Khaliq involuntarily enrolled as an inactive member of the State Bar of California. That order was effective three calendar days after service, according to the recommendation.
The state bar's recommendation 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 can request further review within the state bar court.
Khaliq's recommended discipline was among the dispositions filed earlier this month by the state bar court's hearing department for August.
Khaliq was admitted to the bar in California on Dec. 1, 2004, according to his profile at the state bar website. Khaliq had no prior discipline before the state bar, according to the decision and order.
In August 2017, Khaliq pleaded no contest to a felony domestic violence charge, which the court reduced to a misdemeanor and placed him on three years' probation, according to the decision and order.
In June 2015, prior to the alleged assault, Khaliq allegedly sent his girlfriend text messages pretending to be the CEO of a company at which his girlfriend was pursuing employment to see if she would "choose" him or the CEO, according to the decision and order. The girlfriend reported the text messages to the company's human resources department, which contacted Palo Alto police.
Khaliq testified in July that the impersonation had been a prank. The state bar court did not agree.
"Rather, (Khaliq's) conduct was a way to control and manipulate his girlfriend," the decision and order said.