Jonathan Fried

February 28, 2015

JONATHAN ADRIEL FRIED [#257631], 38, of Miami, was disbarred Feb. 28, 2015 and ordered to comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court and make restitution. The State Bar Court found Fried culpable of misconduct in 11 client matters including: violating loan modification law, improperly withdrawing from employment, threatening criminal, administrative or disciplinary charges, misleading a judge, accepting fees from a non-client and failing to perform services, competently obey court orders, refund unearned fees, render an accounting, deposit client funds in a trust account, inform a client of significant developments, respond to client inquiries or return a client file. Four of the matters involved “similar misconduct of incompetence and deceit under the guise of rescuing these troubled homeowners from foreclosures and providing them with loan modifications,” the court wrote. “Each of these clients fell victim to respondent's chicanery.” In another matter, Fried failed to appear at a hearing in a client’s case and was sanctioned $149 as a result. He did not pay the sanction. Fried was also hired to represent a man in his divorce case and accepted $3,000 from the client’s mother, but did not obtain the client’s written consent to accept the money. After that, he did not file any of the necessary documents to substitute into the matter and did not inform the client. Because he failed to finalize the divorce matter, a default was entered. Fried failed to respond to numerous inquiries about the status of the case and did not promptly refund the fees or provide the client with an accounting. He was ordered to pay $31,500 plus interest in restitution.