State Bar prosecutor named chief counsel for agency’s court

One of the State Bar's top prosecutors has been named the next chief court counsel for the State Bar Court.

Gregory Dresser is the second bar official intimately involved in a pending federal lawsuit focused on a lawyer discipline case to be promoted and in line for a pay raise in recent months.

He served for more than a year as interim chief trial counsel and most recently was a deputy chief trial counsel. On Oct. 23, he is to step into the role Colin Wong held before retiring last month.

Bar Executive Director Leah Wilson said Dresser "has proven to be an invaluable asset to the functioning of the attorney discipline system. His skills, experience, and leadership abilities will be a significant benefit to the State Bar Court."

Dresser said he was honored to be appointed. "The independent State Bar Court plays a critical role in public protection, and in the fair and timely resolution of attorney discipline cases," he said in a statement.

His new salary will be $240,000, a 1.5 percent bump from the $236,328 he is making in his current role, according to bar spokeswoman Rebecca Farmer. Wong's salary before retiring was $202,257, according to Farmer.

The bar did not say how many people applied for the position, which was posted last month.

Dresser, who worked at Morrison & Foerster LLP for more than a decade, joined the bar's prosecutorial office in the spring of 2015. He was named interim chief trial counsel after Jayne Kim resigned in the spring of 2016. Steven Moawad was named the bar's new top prosecutor in April.

Dresser is a defendant in a federal lawsuit accusing the bar of trying to discipline an attorney in retaliation for his blogging about alleged misconduct by a bar prosecutor. Clevenger v. Dresser et al., 17-CV02798 (N.D. Cal., filed May 15, 2017). The bar has said it is prosecuting the attorney, Ty Clevenger, for discipline he received in two other states.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup earlier this year accused bar attorney Suzanne Grandt of intentionally misleading him during a hearing in the case and said he was considering sanctioning the agency.

Soon after, General Counsel Vanessa Holton announced that Grandt had been promoted, and the agency said she was given a 10 percent pay raise.

Alsup later sanctioned the bar by giving plaintiff Ty Clevenger the chance to take a 2-hour deposition of Dresser, who was the top bar prosecutor when the agency issued a notice of intent to file charges against Clevenger.

Clevenger blasted the appointment of Dresser to the court counsel post.

"This creates a serious conflict of interest," Clevenger said Thursday. "Now the State Bar Court has basically given him their blessing and said, 'There is nothing to see here, move along.'"

Catherine Purcell, presiding judge of the State Bar Court, said it was common for members of a prosecutor's office to join a superior court as a staff attorney or judge.

"In such cases, well-established ethical rules govern potential conflict of interests related to the cases the new court member handled while in the prosecutor's office," Purcell said in a statement. "The same ethical rules apply to the State Bar Court as well."

Arthur Margolis, a Los Angeles discipline defense attorney, questioned the wisdom of appointing Dresser as court counsel so early in his tenure at the bar.

"It takes a considerable amount of time to understand the law and procedures of the bar because it is byzantine and unique," Margolis said. "There is no way he can know enough to be the head of the court."

Dresser's role will include providing legal advice and counsel to the judges of the bar court. Margolis said that could create some problems, especially since Dresser may have had access to confidential information about cases that have come or will come before the court.

David Cameron Carr, a San Diego ethics lawyer and former bar prosecutor, said it was not unusual for personnel to move from the bar prosecutor's office to the agency's court or vice versa.

He pointed to the example of Richard Platel, who served as a State Bar Court judge after having held different positions in the bar's Office of Chief Trial Counsel.

"He served very well, and I don't think it created any red flags," Carr said.

Former bar prosecutor Cydney Batchelor had high praise for Dresser. "He writes like a dream, he proofreads like a maniac and he is eminently fair," she said.

Wong has begun serving as a retired annuitant to help with the transition. Wong will be paid $97.24 an hour until March 9 at the latest, according to documents provided to the bar's board prior to a meeting last month.