In the wake of the Girardi scandal, a California senator has put forward a bill mandating that attorneys report their colleagues' misconduct to the bar.
Umberg, a practicing attorney who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in an interview that the Girardi scandal had exposed numerous shortcomings in the legal system.“One flaw is that unlike the other 49 states, California imposes no duty on a lawyer to expose egregious misconduct or even in this case, potential theft of funds that rightfully belonged to victims. And so that needs to be addressed,” Umberg said.
After the bill was proposed Monday, the chair of the State Bar’s board of trustees announced his support for the legislation. In The Times’ report published in October, a former attorney at his firm, Girardi Keese, said he left the firm two years before its fall because Girardi had stolen millions from one of their clients, a burn victim, and his family.
California’s legal community, the largest in the country, has resisted mandatory reporting since the 1980s when other states began adopting versions of a model rule drawn up by the American Bar Assn. The disdain for it is so pronounced that many California lawyers have borrowed from gangster jargon to call it the “snitch rule” or “rat rule.”
Carol Langford, a Bay Area attorney who frequently represents attorneys accused of misconduct, said she expected wide opposition to the bill and disputed the suggestion that it could have stopped Girardi. Langford said that if attorneys see misconduct by another attorney on a case, they have a duty to tell their client about it since it is a significant development in the case. She said it should be up to clients to decide whether they want it to be reported to the Bar.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
New blood, Big Oil: California Legislature starts special sessionGov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to penalize oil industry profits presents an early high-stakes issue for the new Legislature. It's the most diverse legislature in California history, with about one-third of legislators new to Sacramento.
Read more »
What to Know: New Deadline to Get Your Real ID Driver's License in CaliforniaThe federal government has extended the deadline to get your Real ID driver’s license yet again, meaning you now have until May 7, 2025 before the new ID will be required to pass through airport security. Here’s what you’ll need to get one, and how to go about it.
Read more »
Michelin adds 18 new stars to its California guide, including eight restaurants in L.A.Here are this year's new Michelin star awardees in Los Angeles and greater California.
Read more »
Fast-food workers vow to battle effort to overturn new California lawA historic California law will give fast-food workers more say on wages, hours and working conditions. Now a coalition of business owners says they have enough signatures for a ballot measure to overturn it.
Read more »
New California Poll Underscores Challenges Of Black Women And Latinas Seeking Mental Health CareThe majority of women said they had mental health concerns, but they didn’t seek help for them.
Read more »