Cosby accuser suspended; fails diversion program

A California lawyer who last year accused comedian Bill Cosby of sexual harassment was suspended and placed on probation in May after she failed to complete a State Bar diversion program for attorneys with chemical abuse or mental health problems. TAMARA GREEN [#134460], 58, of Fallbrook was suspended for two years, stayed, placed on five years of probation with an actual six-month suspension and was ordered to make restitution to a client. The order took effect May 20, 2006.

Green came forward in February 2005 after a former Temple University employee accused Cosby of sexual assault. Green claimed on national television that the entertainer gave her fake cold tablets that nearly knocked her out and then groped her in the 1970s. She said she went public to bolster support for a Canadian woman who told police that Cosby had drugged and molested her a year earlier at his home in Pennsylvania.

The district attorney in Mont-gomery County, Pa., declined to press charges against Cosby, saying there was insufficient evidence and no one ever complained to law enforcement about his behavior. Cosby’s attorney called Green’s accusation “absolutely false” and said Cosby had never heard of her.

In 2004, Green was slapped with 13 counts of misconduct stemming from three client matters. She stipulated to six counts shortly after agreeing to participate in the State Bar’s Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP). She subsequently was accepted into the State Bar Court’s Alternative Discipline Program (ADP), in which attorneys can receive a lesser discipline by participating in the LAP and completing other requirements.

As part of a contract Green signed with the court, she acknowledged that failure to complete the program would lead to more severe discipline. Although she complied with the terms of the program for about 10 months, she did not contact an evaluation committee and was dropped from the LAP.

Green was hired in 2001 to handle a personal injury case on a contingency basis. She settled the case for the insurance policy limit of $30,000 and received two settlement checks, one for that amount and another for $750 to settle a claim by the client’s child. She took $10,250 as fees and gave $500 to the client for the child. However, she did not provide any funds to the client or her doctors for 10 months and allowed the balance in her client trust account to fall below the required amount. She eventually paid her client’s doctors $21,400.

She closed her office without leaving a forwarding address or new phone number.

In the second matter, she represented a client in connection with modification of child support, but she did no work and abandoned his case. She did not refund any of his $1,000 advance fee.

In another contingency civil case, Green filed suit but did not appear at an order to show cause hearing; the court learned she intended to substitute out of the case due to illness, but she did not file a substitution form. She failed to appear at trial or arrange for a new attorney and effectively abandoned the case. When the case was dismissed, she did not notify her client, who had attempted unsuccessfully to reach her.

Green stipulated that she failed to perform legal services competently, properly maintain client funds or refund unearned fees and she improperly withdrew from employment.

In mitigation, she has no record of discipline in 14 years of practice, she cooperated with the bar’s investigation and took steps to demonstrate remorse.

The court acknowledged that Green has a mental health problem that contributed to the misconduct, but did not consider it mitigating because she did not complete the alternative discipline program.

Green also was ordered to take the MPRE and comply with rule 955 of the California Rules of Court. If the actual suspension exceeds two years, she must prove her rehabilitation.