Berkeley, CA 94701
6 March 2005 | Disbarred (20 years, 2 months ago) Disbarment 02-O-15085 |
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2 October 2004 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (20 years, 7 months ago) Ordered inactive 02-O-15085 |
14 June 2004 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (20 years, 10 months ago) Ordered inactive 02-O-15085 |
22 April 2004 | Disciplinary charges filed in State Bar Court 02-O-15085 (21 years ago) |
16 September 2003 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (21 years, 7 months ago) Suspended, failed to pay fees |
23 December 1991 | Admitted to the State Bar of California (33 years, 4 months ago) |
March 6, 2005 SUSAN M. ST. AMOUR [#156657], 53, of Berkeley was disbarred March 6, 2005, and was ordered to comply with rule 955 of the California Rules of Court. In a default proceeding, the State Bar Court found that St. Amour committed misconduct involving six clients. She abandoned five clients without telling them she was withdrawing from their cases, misappropriated funds from one client and failed to refund fees to four clients. Two were forced to hire new lawyers.St. Amour also failed to perform legal services competently or cooperate with the bar’s investigation, and the court found that her habitual disregard of her clients’ interest amounted to moral turpitude.In every case but one, she was hired to set up a special needs trust for a client or a client’s family member. She created only one, and although she provided another lawyer with the necessary trust documents, she abandoned her law office without advising the other lawyer about the distribution of settlement proceeds. She never completed the documents necessary to finalize the trust.In other cases, St. Amour did not create the trust, return her clients’ files or refund their unearned fees. In one matter, a client’s lawyer gave St. Amour a $27,000 settlement fund. She provided checks to the client written against her business account but misappropriated at least $7,000. |