SAN FRANCISCO (Northern California Record) — Los Angeles attorney Kyle Sheldon Hackett faces disbarment following a California Supreme Court decision over four counts of misconduct in a single client matter.
The high court issued its disbarment order April 26 and Hackett's effective disbarment date will be May 26, according to a recent on the State Bar of California's website. Hackett also was ordered to pay costs.
Hackett was admitted to the bar in California on March 30, 1998, according to his profile at the state bar website.
Hackett allegedly failed to inform his client that Los Angeles Superior Court dismissed a lawsuit because Hackett didn't respond to discovery or oppose dispositive motions, according to the eight-page decision and order of involuntary inactive enrollment issued Jan. 3 by the state bar court. Hackett also allegedly disobeyed a court order that directed him to pay $1,650 in discovery sanctions, according to the decision.
Hackett failed to participate in person or via counsel and state bar's decision and order for disbarment was entered by default. In such cases, in which an attorney fails to participate in a State Bar of California disciplinary proceeding despite adequate notice and opportunity, the bar invokes Rule 5.85, which provides the procedure for the state bar to recommend an attorney's disbarment.
The state bar's entry for default was entered about a year ago.
Other disciplinary matters were pending against Hackett, according to the decision and order.
The state bar court's recommendation included an involuntary inactive enrollment order that rendered Hackett involuntarily enrolled as an inactive member of the state bar. That order was effective three calendar days after service, according to the recommendation.
In a previous discipline, Hackett was placed on two years' probation in October 2016 after he stipulated to having entered into an agreement for contingency fee in a medical malpractice case that was higher than legally allowable, according to information on his state bar profile.
In a earlier discipline, Hackett was publicly reproved in March 2007 after he stipulated to four ethical violations in a single client matter, according to the decision and order.