Riverside, CA 92509
30 April 1997 | Disbarred (28 years, 1 month ago) Disbarment 93-O-17436 |
---|---|
6 November 1995 | Disciplinary charges filed in State Bar Court 93-O-17436 (29 years, 7 months ago) |
13 June 1984 | Admitted to the State Bar of California (41 years ago) |
April 30, 1997 RICHARD STEVEN SCOTT [#113601], 53, of Riverside was disbarred April 30, 1997, and ordered to comply with rule 955. Scott's disbarment followed a default hearing involving multiple acts of wrongdoing in six separate client matters. In addition, he failed to cooperate with the bar's investigation of four of those matters.In this decision, the bar court hearing judge found that Scott's misconduct was followed by bad faith, dishonesty and concealment. In one matter, he attempted to conceal the superior court's dismissal of a client's case for lack of prosecution by sending the client a new contingency fee agreement and misrepresenting to her that the action was still pending.In another matter, Scott misrepresented to a client that the superior court had not given a reason for dismissal of his case, when in fact, it was the result of his failure to appear at two hearings.As a result of his misconduct, at least three of Scott's clients lost their causes of action and another client had a significant delay in finalizing a settlement.In another case, he delayed returning a client's files and about $72,000 in entrusted funds for seven months. Scott also closed his office without informing one client and stopped communicating with other clients.The hearing judge said he was particularly troubled by the length of time in which the misconduct occurred (about two years) and by Scott's lack of participation in the disciplinary proceedings. |