Grove v. State Bar of Cal.

• Decision Date: 15 May 1967
• Docket Number: 22480,S.F. 22440
• Citation: 427 P.2d 164,58 Cal.Rptr. 564,66 Cal.2d 680
• Court: California Supreme Court
• Parties: , 427 P.2d 164 Alan GROVE, Petitioner, v. The STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA, Respondent. In Bank

Page 564

58 Cal.Rptr. 564

66 Cal.2d 680, 427 P.2d 164

Alan GROVE, Petitioner, v. The STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA, Respondent.

S.F. 22440, 22480.

Supreme Court of California,

In Bank.

May 15, 1967.

Alan Grove, in pro. per., Benjamin Dreyfus and Garry, Dreyfus & McTernan, San Francisco, for ptitioner.

F. LaMar Forshee and Herbert M. Rosenthal, San Francisco, for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

In two proceedings consolidated for hearing, the State Bar of California recommended, respectively disbarment and suspension of Alan Grove, member of the State Bar. Since we agree that petitioner should be disbarred, we consider only the former complaint, and dismiss the suspension proceeding, S.F. 22480.

In its order to show cause, which petitioner admitted receiving, the State Bar alleged 15 counts of professional misconduct including failure to file or defend suits or otherwise perform services for clients, retaining fees for services not performed failure to report money collected for clients, false representation, and purposeful evasion of communication with clients. Petitioner failed to appear at the local administrative committee hearing, and he offered no testimony before the disciplinary board. He made a 'special appearance' before the board, contesting its jurisdiction. Before this court he contended that the board lacked 'in personam jurisdiction' because of improper service of notice of its hearings.

Because his argument is completely unsubstantiated by the record, and since counsel appears to have conceded the board's jurisdiction in his supplementary brief, we hold that the proceedings before the committee and the board were proper. The board dismissed five of the fifteen counts; we accept the board's findings on the remaining ten, and we set forth the basic facts there involved.

1. In September 1963 petitioner was employed as attorney for Josephine Fischer. He told her that he would file suit for her in a personal injury matter. He failed to file the suit and the client's claim became barred by statute of limitations. Moreover, petitioner did not respond to a great many telephone calls from her.

2. In September 1963 petitioner was retained by Mr. and Mrs. John D. Nicholson to represent them in an adoption proceeding. He told them and the court that he would prepare two necessary documents. Upon his failure to do so, the court prepared the documents.

3. Petitioner was employed in April 1961 by Mr. and Mrs. Peter V. Lepore to represent them in a personal injury claim. He told them that they should not worry about their medical bills, but that they would be met by their insurance company. When his clients were served with summons and complaint for payment of the bills, petitioner agreed to handle the action. He failed to contest the action and, pursuant to a default judgment, Mr. Lepore's earnings were garnisheed. He did not respond to numerous telephone calls from his clients.

4. In May 1963, while attorney for Willin Land Sales Co., petitioner had custody of corporate books, minutes, and papers in connection with a lawsuit. Despite telephone calls and letters, petitioner willfully failed to return the records to his client.

5. Petitioner was employed in August 1960 by Mrs. Eleanor B. Stevens as attorney for the estate of her father. As a result of his failure to perform the services for which he was engaged, including the preparation of an accounting and appearance in court for his client, the administrix, Mrs. Stevens, suffered revocation of her letters of administration and a judgment for the bonding company for unpaid premiums, costs, and counsel fees.

6. Petitioner failed to appear in court for a hearing of a divorce action which he had filed for his client, Mrs. Doris M. Borneman, in September 1964. He failed to respond to numerous telephone calls from his client.

7. In November 1962 petitioner was engaged as attorney by Ronald W. Fahlgren and agreed to file a complaint for damages to a motor vehicle. He failed to file the complaint. When his client was subsequently sued for damages arising out of the same accident, petitioner represented that he would file an answer. After he failed to file the answer and after he knew that a default judgment had been entered against his client, he advised his client not to worry about the judgment because he would contact the collection company. He failed to contact the collection company, and failed to respond to between 50 and 100 telephone calls by his client.

8. In August 1963 petitioner represented Dona Cain in a divorce action, and received for delivery to his client numerous trustee checks from defendant's attorney. He retained many of the checks in his possession for more than a year. Several became outdated and non-negotiable, and his client was forced to seek reissuance by the maker. Petitioner did not respond to any of the numerous telephone calls placed to him by his client.

9. Petitioner accepted $50 as partial payment of his fee for representing Ruby Falcon in a domestic relations matter, but failed to perform any services for her, and failed to respond to any of the telephone calls from her or message left by her at his office.

10. Petitioner failed to perform the services for which he was engaged and paid $133 by C. F. Denning in November 1963. Denning was defendant in an action for a real estate broker's commission. Petitioner failed to appear for his client at the scheduled trial, and his client proceeded to trial without counsel and suffered an adverse judgment. He subsequently failed to return to his client the papers entrusted to him, or to respond to numerous telephone calls and personal visits by his client.

Petitioner's record, in addition to the two proceedings before us, is not without blemish. In December 1962 this court suspended him for nonpayment of dues, reinstating him after eight days. In September 1965 this court reprimanded him for misleading a court as to the appearance of an opposing attorney. (Grove v. State Bar of California (1965) 63 Cal.2d 312, 46 Cal.Rptr. 513, 405 P.2d 553.)

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