Court rules discipline
costs can be collected retroactively
A federal appeals court
has ruled that a disbarred attorney must pay disciplinary costs that were
assessed against him prior to the passage of legislation that gave the
State Bar authority to enforce cost awards. A three-judge panel of the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said the bar correctly applied the statute
retroactively in its effort to collect more than $21,000 from San Francisco
attorney MIGUEL GADDA [#64832], 64, who was disbarred in 2003.
The appellate panel upheld
the district court’s dismissal of Gadda’s lawsuit.
Gadda had an immigration
practice with a caseload of 500 to 600 cases. Clients were seen at his
office on a first come, first served basis, often waiting several hours
for a 10- to 20-minute appointment.
Immigration judges who
testified at Gadda’s trial before the bar said he frequently missed
court appearances and often seemed unprepared. He often hired other attorneys
to appear for him and between 1998 and 2000, he worked mostly at home,
due to illness, coming to his office two days a week.
A State Bar Court hearing
judge found that Gadda committed 17 acts of misconduct in eight client
matters and a trust account matter. Five of his clients were deported in
absentia due to his actions.
When the judge recommended
his disbarment, Gadda sought review, arguing that because he practiced
immigration law only, the State Bar had no jurisdiction over him. He also
contended that the disciplinary proceeding was an attempt by the state
to regulate the practice of law in federal courts.
The review department
acknowledged that neither the Supreme Court nor the State Bar Court could
restrict Gadda’s federal practice. However, it said it was through
his California license, granted by the Supreme Court, that he was eligible
to practice in California. It recommended his disbarment in 2002, and the
Supreme Court issued a final order in February 2003.
Gadda did not challenge
a cost order that he owed the bar $21,845. When the bar sent him a letter
in 2005 asking that he pay his court costs, he filed suit, challenging
both the disbarment and the bar’s ability to collect costs.
Prior to the 2003 legislation,
which was enacted after Gadda’s disbarment, the bar could collect
costs from disciplined lawyers only as a condition of reinstatement or
return to active membership. It was the bar’s practice to collect
cost awards only when disciplined lawyers applied for readmission. However,
the legislation, which amended the Business and Professions Code, gave
the bar the ability to enforce cost orders as money judgments.
The court of appeal said
the bar’s attempt to collect Gadda’s costs “is a retroactive
application of the statute,” and that the legislation intended that
the statute “be retroactively applicable to disbarred attorneys such
as Gadda.”
The court also rejected
Gadda’s arguments that the legislation violated federal due process
rights.
Gadda also was disbarred
by the Board of Immigration Appeals, the federal Northern District court
and the Ninth Circuit. He was suspended and placed on probation by the
bar in 1990 for similar misconduct.
He has not paid any portion
of the cost award.
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