"The California State Bar has charged a founding partner of Downtown LA Law Group, a law firm at the center of a scandal that has embroiled Los Angeles County's historic sex abuse settlement, with signing up dozens of clients in states where none of the firm's lawyers were licensed to practice."
"The bar charged Salar Hendizadeh, who left the firm this fall, on March 5 with helping one of Southern California's largest personal injury law firms sign accident victims across the country, despite lacking attorneys who could litigate the cases in other states. Hendizadeh was charged with eleven counts, including deceptive advertising and charging illegal fees."
"The firm had roughly 40 clients in Texas, where it operated under the name "Lone Star Injury Law Firm" and branded itself "Texas's #1 Injury Law Firm," according to the complaint. The firm had one L.A.-based attorney licensed to practice in Texas, Darren McBratney, but he left the firm in early 2022."
The California State Bar charged Salar Hendizadeh, a founding partner of Downtown LA Law Group, with eleven counts including deceptive advertising and illegal fees for signing up clients in states where the firm lacked licensed attorneys. The firm operated under different names in other states, including "Lone Star Injury Law Firm" in Texas, and maintained approximately 40 clients there. The firm continued using the name of an attorney licensed in Texas on its website for years after he left in early 2022, ignoring cease and desist letters. Hendizadeh left the firm in fall, and the firm faces ongoing investigations by the State Bar and district attorney related to its representation of thousands of alleged sex abuse victims.
#legal-ethics-violations #unauthorized-practice-of-law #state-bar-enforcement #law-firm-misconduct #multi-state-legal-practice
Read at Los Angeles Times
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