Remote difficulty leaves attorney without argument in federal court

An attorney contesting his discipline by the California State Bar had technical difficulties with a remote federal court hearing Thursday and was found to have failed to appear after the case was postponed for some time to await him.

Daniel Everett challenged the State Bar proceedings against him in federal court, claiming violations of the U.S. Constitution. State Bar attorneys countered with a Younger abstention motion, arguing the federal court should step aside and allow the matter to proceed in state court. Everett v. Justices of the California Supreme Court, 3:20-cv-03504-EMC (N.D. Cal., filed May 15, 2020).

Everett did appear briefly on screen when U.S. District Court Judge Edward M. Chen in San Francisco called the case during a session held on Zoom. But the attorney appeared to have technical difficulties that prevented other parties from hearing what he was saying.

Chen then announced he would hear another matter in order to allow Everett more time. When Chen called the case a second time, Everett wasn't there.

"I don't know what the problem is," Chen said. "We've been in session for quite a while."

Reached by phone after the hearing, Everett said he had technical difficulties. He added, "Younger is hard to get past." Everett, who is Black, said he has increasingly spoken out on racial justice issues in the profession.

"That set of laws is used against attorneys who speak out against judges or against the bar," Everett said. "I myself have begun writing articles against the bar, for one, alleging the bar has disciplined African-American males at a rate four times that of their white counterparts."

Chen ruled from the bench, agreeing with the Younger motion made by the bar's Assistant General Counsel Suzanne C. Grandt. A motion to dismiss filed Wednesday by Grandt and others said the case met all four factors included under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971), including that the federal action would enjoin "a state-initiated proceeding."

"There is an important state interest, obviously, in enforcing State Bar rules, and the proceedings therein allow litigants to raise federal constitutional challenges," Chen said. "There is no reason the claims that are raised here cannot be argued in Mr. Everett's petition to the California Supreme Court."

According to the State Bar website, Everett graduated from UC Hastings College of Law and was admitted to practice in 2010. He was suspended in 2015 for MCLE noncompliance. The bar filed 10 counts against him in 2016, then another seven in 2018. These included claims he practiced law while not licensed, didn't tell clients he had been let go from a law firm, failed to pay fees and file timely motions and didn't show up for hearings. He is currently not allowed to practice but has not been disbarred.

Everett's amended complaint argued some of the State Bar rules being invoked against him violated the Fifth and 14th Amendments.

Chen denied his motion to enjoin the proceedings against him, but did not dismiss the case outright from the bench, saying he would allow Everett time to file another motion.

According to the website of KXSF Radio in San Francisco, Everett hosts a weekly radio show. Called Folk Law, the show presents the view there are "two societies functioning side by side," based on whether people can afford legal representation.