Thomas Edward Johnston was first admitted to the California Bar 6th April 1960, but is now no longer eligible to practice. Thomas graduated from UCLA SOL.

Lawyer Information

NameThomas Edward Johnston
First Admitted6 April 1960 (64 years ago)
StatusNot Eligible to Practice
Bar Number30389

Schools

Law SchoolUCLA SOL (Los Angeles CA)
Undergraduate SchoolUniversity of California Berkeley (Berkeley CA)

Address

Current Address18001 Cowan #C-D
Irvine, CA 92614
Map

History

27 September 1999Not Eligible To Practice Law in CA (24 years, 6 months ago)
1 January 1993Inactive (31 years, 3 months ago)
6 May 1985Active (38 years, 11 months ago)
1 January 1983Inactive (41 years, 3 months ago)
3 August 1981Active (42 years, 8 months ago)
1 January 1981Inactive (43 years, 3 months ago)
6 April 1960Admitted to The State Bar of California (64 years ago)

Discipline Summaries

November 9, 2001

THOMAS EDWARD JOHNSTON [#30389], 69, of Newport Beach was suspended for three years, stayed, placed on four years of probation with an actual two-year suspension, and was ordered to prove his rehabilitation, make restitution, take the MPRE and comply with rule 955. The order took effect Nov. 9, 2001.

Johnston stipulated that he breached his fiduciary duties in a general partnership by making misrepresentations, failing to disclose material facts, signing a partner’s name to a document without his knowledge and misappropriating partnership funds, acts which amounted to moral turpitude.

In 1977, Johnston’s wholly owned corporation became a general partner with a limited partnership created to develop and sell 1,770 acres in Orange County. A year later, the partnership acquired two new general partners and Johnston’s company and another became limited partners.

The partnership included a golf course and in 1988, negotiations began to sell the course at a substantial profit. However, one of the general partners was not informed about the negotiations or about subsequent business dealings.

A new entity was created in which Johnston was a general partner. As a fiduciary, he was required to avoid making false representations, to disclose material facts about the golf course and to maintain partnership assets and funds.

He convinced one of the general partners to enter into a series of agreements without giving him complete information. When the golf course was sold, Johnston did not tell the general partner, although he was a shareholder, nor did he distri-bute the cash proceeds to him, as required by the partnership agreement.

The general partner sued Johnston for fraud and deceit, intentional misrepresentation and fraudulent concealment. Johnston then changed the partnership agreement without the general partner’s knowledge.

The court ordered Johnston and other defendants to pay the general partner nearly $479,000, plus $284,338 in interest, for fraud while acting in a fiduciary capacity. In addition, Johnston was ordered to pay more than $500,000 in attorney fees.

Johnston has not paid the judgment or the fees.

In mitigation, his wife passed away in 1990. Johnston does not practice law and intends to continue to pursue a career as a developer.