Deborah Ann Duggan

Deborah Ann Duggan was admitted to the California Bar 13th June 1984, but is now resigned. Deborah graduated from U of San Francisco SOL.

Lawyer Information

Name	Deborah Ann Duggan
First Admitted	13 June 1984 (41 years ago)
Status	Resigned
Bar Number	113112

Contact

Current Email	[email protected]
Phone Number	510-655-7786
Fax Number	510-655-8220

Schools

Law School	U of San Francisco SOL (San Francisco CA)
Undergraduate School	University of San Diego (San Diego CA)

Address

Current Address	6334 Telegraph Ave Oakland, CA 94609
Map

History

22 March 2008	Resigned (17 years, 3 months ago) Resignation with charges pending 07-Q-13039
8 August 2007	Not eligible to practice law in CA (17 years, 10 months ago) Vol.inactive(tender of resign.w/charges) 07-Q-13039
4 February 2007	Not eligible to practice law in CA (18 years, 4 months ago) Discipline w/actual suspension 06-PM-13163
15 October 2006	Not eligible to practice law in CA (18 years, 8 months ago) Ordered inactive 06-PM-13163
19 February 2005	Not eligible to practice law in CA (20 years, 4 months ago) Discipline w/actual suspension 00-O-11492
13 June 1984	Admitted to the State Bar of California (41 years ago)

Discipline Summaries

February 4, 2007

DEBORAH ANN DUGGAN [#113112], 60, of Oakland Probation was revoked, the previous stay of suspension was lifted and she was actually suspended for three years and until she proves her rehabilitation. The order took effect Feb. 4, 2007.

Duggan violated the terms of a 2005 probation: she filed four probation reports late, never filed a fifth report, did not complete ethics or trust accounting school or make restitution payments, and did not submit a law office plan or proof that she obtained mental health treatment.

The underlying discipline was imposed after Duggan stipulated that she engaged in extensive misconduct in 11 matters, including repeatedly failing to perform legal services competently or communicate with clients, and she committed numerous trust account violations, including acts of moral turpitude, by issuing 32 checks against insufficient funds.

February 19, 2005

DEBORAH ANN DUGGAN [#113112], 59, of Oakland was suspended for three years, stayed, placed on three years of probation with a 13-month actual suspension and was ordered to take the MPRE, comply with rule 955, prove her rehabilitation and make restitution. The order took effect Feb. 19, 2005.

Duggan stipulated to misconduct in 20 cases; nine involved mishandling her client trust account and most of the others stemmed from either failing to perform legal services competently or outright abandonment of clients.

With regard to the client trust account, Duggan stipulated that she commingled funds, wrote checks against insufficient funds, failed to properly maintain the account and committed acts of moral turpitude.

In an employment matter, the lawsuit Duggan filed was rejected because the check she wrote for the filing fee was not honored by the bank. The court ordered the case set aside and she did not refile or notify her client of the situation.

Duggan did not file a complaint in a personal injury case or an employment matter. One client hired her to handle a job discrimination claim and to file suit on her daughterâ€™s behalf as the result of a physical assault by a teacher. Duggan did not pursue either case.

She dismissed a wrongful death case brought by five siblings, although one wished to continue to pursue the matter. Duggan continued to represent that sibling when the interests of the other clients conflicted.

Another client retained Duggan to represent her in a breach of contract action. She filed suit but did not serve the complaint or appear at a case management conference. The client eventually served the complaint herself after receiving continuances from the court, and the defendant filed a demurrer to which Duggan did not respond.

The client eventually took over the case herself.

In total, Duggan stipulated to 36 counts of misconduct: failing to perform legal services competently (nine counts); refund fees (three counts); return files (three); keep clients informed of developments in their cases (10); or account for client funds (one count). She also stipulated to seven counts of mishandling her client trust account, one count of improperly withdrawing from a case, one count of representing clients with adverse interests and one count of moral turpitude.

In mitigation, Duggan suffered a serious head injury in 1996 and hired her brother to help manage her office, using her trust account to pay business and personal bills. She suffered emotional shock when her brother, with whom she lived, died unexpectedly. She later was forced to move her office numerous times. Duggan had no prior record of discipline and she cooperated with the barâ€™s investigation.

Deborah Duggan