Follow Up

Closer inspection of the Review Department report that was posted yesterday reveals a couple of points of interest.  The California Bar "waited nearly five years to file disciplinary charges" despite the fact that the underlying contempt order identified all information necessary to prosecute the case. The delay was treated as a mitigating factor and suggests that the California Bar may have fallen back into its old bad habits of delay. if so, that merits closer scrutiny. The accused attorney's attempt to blame the judge and suggestion that the indigents she had abandoned were not her clients were treated as aggravating factors.

Reminder: if possible, do not represent yourself in a bar discipline case: "At oral argument, [the attorney] presented a tangled web of excuses and sought to shift responsibility... for the procedural gridlock that was occasioned by her actions." (Mike Frisch)