Montebello, CA 90640
3 May 2009 | Disbarred (15 years ago) Disbarment 00-O-10775 |
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17 October 2008 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (15 years, 6 months ago) Ordered inactive 00-O-10775 |
23 September 2008 | Conviction record transmitted to State Bar Court 08-C-13174 (15 years, 7 months ago) |
21 July 2008 | Active (15 years, 9 months ago) |
1 July 2008 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (15 years, 10 months ago) Suspended, failed to pay fees |
1 July 2008 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (15 years, 10 months ago) Admin Inactive/MCLE noncompliance |
26 December 2007 | Disciplinary charges filed in State Bar Court 06-O-10226 (16 years, 4 months ago) |
7 February 2006 | Disciplinary charges filed in State Bar Court 00-O-10775 (18 years, 2 months ago) |
2 July 1993 | Discipline, probation; no actual susp. 92-C-10582 (30 years, 10 months ago) |
8 July 1992 | Conviction record transmitted to State Bar Court 91-C-03501 (31 years, 10 months ago) |
26 March 1992 | Public reproval with/duties 91-C-04796 (32 years, 1 month ago) |
10 February 1992 | Conviction record transmitted to State Bar Court 92-C-10582 (32 years, 2 months ago) |
29 July 1991 | Conviction record transmitted to State Bar Court 91-C-04796 (32 years, 9 months ago) |
13 March 1990 | Admitted to the State Bar of California (34 years, 1 month ago) |
May 3, 2009 ARMAND J. PASANO [#145928], 48, of Montebello was disbarred May 3, 2009, and was ordered to comply with rule 9.20. The State Bar Court found that Pasano committed 32 counts of misconduct in 16 client matters, including failure to perform client services, refund unearned fees, pay client funds, communicate, release files, obey a court order or cooperate with the bar’s investigation.In recommending Pasano’s disbarment, Judge Richard Platel said his “professional malfeasance demonstrates a pattern of misconduct during a 14-year period … A year after he was admitted to the practice of law, (Pasano) began his misconduct in 1991 and continued a course of misconduct until 2005 involving 16 client matters.â€In 1992, he was publicly reproved following convictions for driving under the influence and operating a vehicle with a license plate not issued to the vehicle. The following year, he was suspended after a DUI conviction.The bar court found that, among other things, Pasano’S actions resulted in the dismissal of clients’ cases and collection efforts against them by doctors whose bills were not paid. His failure to pay client funds, maintain funds in a trust account and pay medical providers for one to six years “are tantamount to misappropriation,†Platel said.The majority of cases were personal injury claims that Pasano settled. He often did not pay his clients’ doctors, and frequently did not account for client money.In one matter, for instance, he represented a Los Angeles police officer who was injured in an automobile accident. In a court-ordered non-binding arbitration hearing, the arbitrator ruled against Pasano’s client. Pasano had 30 days to reject the award and ask for a trial, but he did not do so. He did not appear at a hearing or notify his client of any further developments in her case. The court ordered a judgment against Pasano’s client. The client could not get any information from Pasano until she hired a consumer advocate to help determine the status of her case.Pasano settled another personal injury claim for $13,500, but did not pay the client’s medical bills. As a result, the client filed a small claims action and was awarded almost $3,000.In another matter, he failed to pay three court-ordered sanctions, and in yet another, he did not take any steps to collect settlement money or start a new action after his minor client turned 18.Although Pasano argued that he suffered from severe emotional difficulties, a protracted and acrimonious divorce proceeding that led to stress and excessive consumption of alcohol, the court said it was clear he drank heavily prior to the recent misconduct. In addition, it lessened any mitigation because of an ongoing custody dispute with the mother of his children, including a recent guilty plea to a misdemeanor battery of the woman. |