Cane v. State Bar of California

THE COURT.

By separate proceedings, the petitioner seeks to review two recommendations of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California that he be disbarred from practicing law in this state. The first recommendation is the result of disciplinary proceedings instituted against the petitioner in April, 1937. In the latter part of

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June of that year, petitioner was adjudged insane and committed to a state hospital. Later, pursuant to the rules of procedure of the State Bar, this court entered an order suspending him from practice and staying the proceedings with reference to the board’s recommendation until the further order of the court.

In June, 1938, the petitioner was discharged from the hospital upon the ground that he had recovered and in October of that year the stay of disciplinary proceedings was terminated. Thereafter, he filed in this court the application numbered S. F. 16189 to review the recommendations of the board of governors. In September, 1938, the State Bar instituted further disciplinary proceedings against the petitioner relating to additional transactions that had occurred prior to the time of his commitment to the asylum. This resulted in a second recommendation of disbarment by the board of governors which is now before the court for review in the proceeding numbered S. F. 16297.

The facts upon which the board of governors’ recommendations are based are largely undisputed. On October 15, 1929, petitioner, who is now 34 years of age, after examination was admitted to practice law in this state. For several years he was employed on a salary basis by the San Francisco Legal Aid Society. In so far as the record shows, his difficulties began early in 1935 when he commenced misappropriating the funds of his clients. For one of these occurrences he was suspended from practice for a period of 30 days upon the recommendation of the board of governors.

The transaction for which the board first recommended disbarment arose out of a divorce action in which the petitioner had been employed as attorney for the wife. In December, 1935, the wife, who was then in Switzerland, wrote petitioner asking him to collect and forward the money due her under the divorce decree. In June and July of 1936, the petitioner collected a total of $298 from the husband, who requested petitioner to hold it until he could make a further payment so that the entire sum could be sent at one time. However, the husband sent the next payment direct to his wife in Switzerland and then learned some six months later that no part of the $298 had been forwarded’ to the wife. Petitioner claims that he was entitled to deduct