Theresa Marie Erickson was admitted to the California Bar 2nd December 1998, but has since been disbarred. Theresa graduated from University of San Diego SOL.

Lawyer Information

NameTheresa Marie Erickson
First Admitted2 December 1998 (26 years, 5 months ago)
StatusDisbarred
Bar Number197830
Practice AreaFamily Law

Schools

Law SchoolUniversity of San Diego SOL (San Diego CA)
Undergraduate SchoolUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa (Honolulu HI)

Address

Current AddressPO Box 1604
Poway, CA 92074
Map

History

30 November 2012Disbarred (12 years, 5 months ago)
Disbarment 11-C-15405
2 March 2012Not eligible to practice law in CA (13 years, 2 months ago)
Interim suspension after conviction 11-C-15405
9 January 2012Conviction record transmitted to State Bar Court 11-C-15405 (13 years, 4 months ago)
16 September 2011Not eligible to practice law in CA (13 years, 8 months ago)
Vol.inactive(tender of resign.w/charges) 11-Q-17547
2 December 1998Admitted to the State Bar of California (26 years, 5 months ago)

Discipline Summaries

November 30, 2012

THERESA MARIE ERICKSON [#197830], 45, of Poway was summarily disbarred Nov. 30, 2012, and was ordered to comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court.

Erickson pleaded guilty in 2011 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Because the crime is a felony involving moral turpitude, it meets the criteria for summary disbarment.

She has been on interim suspension since March 2, 2012.

March 2, 2012

THERESA MARIE ERICKSON, 44, of Poway was placed on interim suspension March 2, 2012, following a conviction for felony wire fraud. She was ordered to comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court.

September 16, 2011

Guilty in baby-selling scam,Poway lawyer gives up her law license

A Poway attorney known for her expertise in reproductive law submitted her resignation to the State Bar last month after she admitted to being part of what federal authorities called a baby-selling ring. THERESA MARIE ERICKSON [#197830] pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for allegedly transmitting fake documents to deceive both the San Diego County Superior Court and prospective parents. She is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 28 and faces up to five years in federal prison.

Erickson, who gained renown through national television appearances and authorship of a book ? Assisted Reproduction: The Complete Guide to Having a Baby with the Help of a Third Party ? admitted that she and two co-conspirators created an inventory of unborn babies they sold for more than $100,000 each.

Under California law, parental rights to babies cannot be sold, but agreements between surrogates and intended parents can be reached prior to an embryonic transfer. If such an arrangement is not made prior to the transfer, parental rights can be gained only through a formal adoption procedure.

Erickson, 44, admitted in her guilty plea that she paid women to become surrogates in the Ukraine, whose laws governing adoption are far more lax than those in the U.S. Physicians in this country will not implant embryos without a pre-existing agreement between the surrogate and the prospective parents. According to court documents, Erickson recruited women to travel abroad to be implanted with embryos; those who carried the babies to term were paid between $38,000-$40,000.

If the women reached their second trimester, Erickson shopped the babies to prospective parents, telling them the original intended parents had legitimate agreements with the surrogate but had backed out. Prospective parents were told they could assume the supposed surrogate agreements for between $100,000-$150,000. Authorities said Erickson profited about $70,000 from the scheme.

None of the dozen adoptive couples were aware of the scam and will not lose their children. Erickson agreed to reimburse each couple $10,000.

She also admitted that she prepared and filed fraudulent declarations with the San Diego court that stated the unborn babies were the product of legitimate surrogacy agreements. The names of the adoptive parents were placed on the babies’ birth certificates.

Erickson also applied for subsidized medical care for the surrogates from the California Access for Infants and Mothers program.

After her guilty plea, Erickson posted a comment on Facebook asking people not to judge her “until I am able to share the real story, my story. . . . I have never taken advantage of parents, children, donors or surrogates who otherwise would remain vulnerable to the underbelly of this industry.”

Hilary Neiman, a reproductive law attorney in Maryland, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 14. Carla Chambers, of Las Vegas, identified in court papers as a surrogate, pleaded guilty to conspiracy related to receiving payments for pregnancies and will be sentenced Oct. 28. The women all face up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Erickson submitted her resignation from the bar Sept. 16 as the result of disciplinary charges pending against her, but the charges are confidential. The resignation must be accepted by the Supreme Court to become effective; in the meantime, she is prohibited from practicing law in California.

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