Theodore Shin Lee was admitted to the California Bar 5th December 1997, but has since been disbarred. Theodore graduated from Southwestern University SOL.
Lawyer Information
| Name | Theodore Shin Lee |
|---|---|
| First Admitted | 5 December 1997 (26 years, 5 months ago) |
| Status | Disbarred |
| Bar Number | 191848 |
Contact
| Current Email | [email protected] |
|---|---|
| Phone Number | 213-785-3911 |
| Fax Number | 213-325-8383 |
Schools
| Law School | Southwestern University SOL (Los Angeles CA) |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate School | University of California Santa Cruz (CA) |
Address
| Current Address | 3342 Longridge Ter Sherman Oaks, CA 91423-4932 |
|---|---|
| Map | |
| Previous Address | Law Office of Theodore S Lee 13636 Ventura Blvd # 363 Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 |
History
| 23 July 2016 | Disbarred (7 years, 9 months ago) Disbarment 15-O-10023 |
|---|---|
| 25 February 2016 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (8 years, 2 months ago) Ordered inactive 15-O-10476 |
| 7 September 2015 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (8 years, 7 months ago) Ordered inactive 15-O-10476 |
| 24 August 2015 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (8 years, 8 months ago) Suspended, failed to pass Prof.Resp.Exam 12-O-13746 |
| 22 July 2015 | Disciplinary charges filed in State Bar Court 15-O-10476 (8 years, 9 months ago) |
| 1 July 2015 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (8 years, 10 months ago) Admin Inactive/MCLE noncompliance |
| 5 July 2014 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (9 years, 10 months ago) Discipline w/actual suspension 12-O-13746 |
| 4 June 2013 | Disciplinary charges filed in State Bar Court 12-O-13746 (10 years, 11 months ago) |
| 5 December 1997 | Admitted to the State Bar of California (26 years, 5 months ago) |
Discipline Summaries
July 23, 2016 THEODORE SHIN LEE [#191848], 44, of Sherman Oaks, was disbarred July 23, 2016 and ordered to comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court. In one client matter, Lee misappropriated $56,667 of his client’s funds from a settlement and commingled personal funds in his client trust account. In another, he intentionally misappropriated $10,000 belonging to a client. In a third matter, he misappropriated $20,000 from his clients and failed to promptly pay the lien his clients’ medical providers had against their settlement funds.In all three matters he made misrepresentations under oath in a Rule 9.20 compliance declaration, committed acts involving moral turpitude and failed to notify clients of his suspension, cooperate with State Bar investigations or comply with the conditions of his disciplinary probation. As a result of Lee’s misconduct, his clients were deprived of their settlement funds for approximately 18 months. In mitigation, he entered into a pretrial stipulation with the State Bar.He had one prior record of discipline, a June 2014 suspension for misappropriating funds from 13 different clients between 2010 and 2012.July 5, 2014 THEODORE SHIN LEE [#191848], 42, of Los Angeles, was suspended for two years, stayed, placed on three years’ probation with an actual one-year suspension and ordered to take the MPRE and comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court. The order took effect July 5, 2014. The State Bar Court found Lee culpable of 32 counts of misconduct arising from the mismanagement of his client trust account. The counts included: committing moral turpitude and failing to perform legal services with competence, maintain client funds in trust, notify a client promptly of the receipt of the client’s funds or to account.In 2007, Lee entered into an agreement with a company called Walker Advertising to receive referrals. As a result, Lee was handling 60 to 100 clients a month, a workload that required him to hire staff and work 12-hour days. During that time, he was also experiencing marital difficulties and not carefully watching the financial accounting at his firm, which led to many of his problems.In addition, Lee had a fundamental misunderstanding as to his obligations regarding his client trust account. The firm had a practice of depositing funds into the trust account and immediately dispersing them. As a result, the disbursements would often happen before the checks cleared, leading the bank to issue notices of non-sufficient funds.As a result of his discipline, Lee changed the way he handles his client trust account and now waits for the checks to clear. He has also changed the way he does business, collecting the mail and managing his firm’s finances. He also reduced his caseload.In mitigation, Lee had no prior record of discipline, cooperated with the State Bar, showed remorse and was dealing with significant family problems at the time of his misconduct. |