Karl Werner Schoth was admitted to the California Bar 13th June 1984, but has since been disbarred. Karl graduated from Southwestern University SOL.

Lawyer Information

NameKarl Werner Schoth
First Admitted13 June 1984 (39 years, 10 months ago)
StatusDisbarred
Bar Number113572

Contact

Phone Number626-963-7161
Fax Number626-963-7163

Schools

Law SchoolSouthwestern University SOL (Los Angeles CA)
Undergraduate SchoolUniversity of British Columbia (Canada)

Address

Current AddressSchoth Creyaufmiller& Assoc, 1905 E Rt 66 #102
Glendora, CA 91740
Map

History

13 September 2013Disbarred (10 years, 7 months ago)
Disbarment 10-O-10777
15 May 2012Not eligible to practice law in CA (11 years, 11 months ago)
Ordered inactive 10-O-10777
2 September 2011Disciplinary charges filed in State Bar Court 10-O-10777 (12 years, 8 months ago)
12 August 2011Active (12 years, 8 months ago)
1 July 2011Not eligible to practice law in CA (12 years, 10 months ago)
Admin Inactive/MCLE noncompliance
13 June 1984Admitted to the State Bar of California (39 years, 10 months ago)

Discipline Summaries

September 13, 2013

KARL WERNER SCHOTH [#113572], 58, of Glendora, was disbarred Sept. 13, 2013 and ordered to comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court.

Schoth stipulated to misappropriating $136,430 from five clients to pay family expenses, but sought review of the hearing judge’s recommendation that he be disbarred. Schoth asserted that disbarment was excessive because he was suffering from a traumatic personal crisis at the time of his misconduct.

A three-judge panel upheld the hearing judge’s disbarment recommendation, finding that the mitigation in Schoth’s case “does not clearly predominate, given the seriousness of Schoth’s misconduct, which occurred over a long period of time and was aggravated by additional dishonesty and significant harm to a client who was destitute and in poor health.”

Schoth, who had long maintained a successful personal injury practice, started experiencing problems in 2005 after learning that a family member had been drugged and raped at a party. He began to drink heavily, could not stay focused and only tried two cases between November 2005 and the end of 2010, causing his family’s income to drop significantly. After exhausting his family’s savings, Schoth turned to his client trust account.

The first misappropriation occurred in 2009, when Schoth was required to maintain $117,352 in inheritance money in his client trust account. But by the end of 2009, the balance in the client trust account was just $1,760. When the beneficiaries of the estate, one of whom was struggling financially and in poor health, asked about the money, Schoth told them it was tied up in probate proceedings when, in fact, he was using it for his personal expenses. By the end of March 2011, he had paid the beneficiaries all the money they were owed.

Schoth also failed to maintain adequate funds in his client trust account on behalf of four other clients during the fall of 2009. In each case, Schoth distributed all of the funds due to his clients, but delayed paying their lienholders, often for several months, and used these funds for his personal expenses.

In mitigation, Schoth had 25 years of discipline-free practice prior to the misconduct, was suffering from extreme emotional difficulties, showed candor and cooperated with the disciplinary proceedings and was remorseful for his wrongdoing. A number of witnesses also testified to Schoth’s good character.