State Bar suspends ex-DA candidate again

The State Bar has again suspended the law license of a former Orange County district attorney candidate who was reinstated to practice just days prior to the June primary election.

The bar wrote in a Thursday letter to Lenore Albert of Westminster that it was suspending her effective immediately because her bankruptcy case was converted on Tuesday from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7, resulting in her disciplinary debts no longer being dischargeable.

The bar's suspension came one day after the California Supreme Court had invited the agency and Albert to provide supplemental briefing about the outcome of a June 19 hearing in Albert's bankruptcy case "and what effect, if any, that outcome has on the parties' positions in this matter."

The court gave the bar until July 6 to respond, and Albert was given a week after the filing of the bar's brief to reply. Albert on Discipline, S243927.

Albert was originally suspended Feb. 14 for failing to pay three 2012 discovery sanctions ordered by the Orange County Superior Court, totaling roughly $5,735. In addition to a 30-day suspension, the Supreme Court ordered Albert to repay the sanctions with interest, as well as more than $18,000 in disciplinary costs, prior to reinstatement.

The bar reinstated Albert on June 1 without her having paid either of those amounts, and the agency updated its website to indicate she became an active lawyer again March 16.

On June 8, the Supreme Court asked for the bar to submit information about its handling of the Albert case. The bar told the court that after Albert served her 30-day suspension and had only dischargeable debts to pay to regain her license, the agency was obligated under U.S. Bankruptcy Code to reinstate her. Albert filed for bankruptcy in late February. In re Albert, 18-BK10548 (C.D. Cal., filed Feb. 20, 2018).

In the Thursday letter notifying Albert of her latest suspension, the bar highlighted that it had previously reserved its right to again suspend her license if her bankruptcy status changed.

"Now that your case has been converted to chapter 7 bankruptcy, the costs you owe as a condition of your reinstatement are non-dischargeable as a matter of law," wrote Donna S. Hershkowitz, the bar's chief of programs. "This means that the California Supreme Court's December 13, 2017 disciplinary order is no longer impacted by your pending bankruptcy proceedings."

The bar noted the bankruptcy code excepts from discharge in Chapter 7 any debt "for a fine, penalty or forfeiture payable to and for the benefit of a governmental unit."

Albert said Thursday she was disappointed with the bar suspending her anew, and she called the agency's actions imprudent.

"The California Supreme Court's letter asked us to brief the issue, it was not an invitation for the State Bar to take my license away again," Albert wrote in an email. "Whatever happened to it is only the California Supreme Court that can suspend or disbar a member, anyway?"

Supreme Court spokesman Cathal Conneely said the court does not comment on pending discipline matters.

Bar Assistant General Counsel Suzanne Grandt wrote to the Supreme Court Thursday notifying it that the agency had again suspended Albert's license and explaining why it did so. Grandt requested the denial of a previous Albert motion for reinstatement still pending before the court.