Lawyer accused of ‘egregious acts of dishonesty,’ gambling with client cash gets disbarred

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Lawyer accused of ‘egregious acts of dishonesty,’ playing with shopper money will get disbarred

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 22, 2024, 11:44 am CDT

A California lawyer has been disbarred after he was accused of misappropriating almost $117,000 in shopper cash, spending it on playing and private bills, after which mendacity to state bar officers about having most cancers.

Sergio Valdovinos Ramirez of Manhattan Seashore, California, who makes use of Valdovinos as his final title, was disbarred efficient Oct. 18, in a Sept. 18 opinion by the California Supreme Courtroom. He was ordered to pay restitution and curiosity to 5 shoppers and to pay a $5,000 sanction to a shopper safety fund.

After ethics costs have been filed towards him, Valdovinos informed the State Bar of California’s Workplace of Chief Trial Counsel that he had most cancers, in line with the evaluation division opinion. He informed the listening to choose that he was present process chemotherapy, and that he was being handled by Dr. Stephen Chang of the Metropolis of Hope.

He didn’t present promised medical documentation. Investigators have been unable to search out any physician by that title at Metropolis of Hope.

Valdovinos later mentioned he didn’t current his medical documentation due to privateness issues.

He additionally lied to shoppers about their circumstances, offering them with checks that have been mentioned to be settlement cash or a refund, the opinion mentioned. The checks bounced.

“This case is about an lawyer’s egregious acts of dishonesty that occurred in his apply and continued by his disciplinary trial,” the evaluation division of the State Bar Courtroom of California—the executive arm of the California Supreme Courtroom—mentioned in a June 28 opinion recommending disbarment.

Law360, KTLA and the Los Angeles Instances by way of Yahoo Information are among the many publications with protection.

Valdovinos had claimed that the listening to choose was biased towards him, and she or he had embarrassed him when she requested whether or not he meant to lift playing habit as a mitigating consider his ethics case. The query was not unreasonable, the evaluation division mentioned. In a two-year interval, Valdovinos had spent $886,535 for playing chips from the Bicycle On line casino and the Commerce On line casino.

The opinion detailed alleged misappropriation and misrepresentations.

One shopper who mentioned she was injured in a automobile accident paid Valdovinos $4,850, however he by no means filed a lawsuit on her behalf, the evaluation division mentioned. He used the cash for private expenditures, together with funds for eating places, a gasoline station and the Bicycle On line casino. Valdovinos allegedly informed the shopper that he had filed the swimsuit, however there have been courtroom delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He later mentioned he settled the swimsuit, in line with the opinion.

Valdovinos gave the shopper 4 checks mentioned to signify the settlement cash, however he stopped fee on the primary and had inadequate funds to cowl the opposite three, the opinion mentioned. He additionally claimed that he had tried to wire the funds, however there have been issues. He did present the shopper $500, the one cash he ever returned to her.

“Valdovinos went to nice lengths to provide [the client] the misunderstanding that he was making progress on her case and to cover the truth that he had not filed a lawsuit on her behalf, which is proof that the misrepresentations have been intentional,” the evaluation division mentioned.

Valdovinos additionally offered different shoppers with checks that bounced, the listening to board mentioned.

“Valdovinos’s misconduct was widespread, protecting a number of shopper issues, and he considerably harmed his shoppers,” the opinion mentioned.

The evaluation board cited a number of aggravating components, together with that Valdovinos “lied about essentially the most simply verifiable details.” His misrepresentations about most cancers have been “purposeful misrepresentations” to keep away from complying with deadlines within the ethics case, the evaluation board mentioned.

“There may be nothing within the document for example Valdovinos discovered from his misconduct and wouldn’t have interaction in such misconduct once more; as an alternative, Valdovinos by no means confirmed regret or accepted duty,” the opinion mentioned.

In his closing temporary, Valdovinos had argued that the trial counsel’s workplace had relied closely “on hypothesis and innuendos.”

Valdovinos by no means informed one shopper that her case had settled for $175,000; relatively, that was the quantity that the shopper hoped to acquire, Valdovinos mentioned. Her advance charges have been used for a personal investigator. And he by no means filed swimsuit as a result of there was no damage, he mentioned.

One other shopper who lower off contact with Valdovinos “selected to not gather his funds in full,” the temporary mentioned. One other shopper by no means gave Valdovinos the required proof for his case. In yet one more case, Valdovinos labored on the case, utilizing up your entire retainer, Valdovinos mentioned.

Valdovinos was licensed in California in 2017 and had a solo apply. He’s a graduate of the Thomas Jefferson College of Regulation in San Diego.

Valdovinos didn’t instantly reply to an ABA Journal request for remark despatched to an e-mail deal with on file with the state bar. A telephone quantity listed by the state bar was not in service.