MERVYN HILLARD WOLF [#41639], 72, of Calabasas was disbarred April 20, 2012, and was ordered to comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court.

The State Bar Court review department agreed with a hearing judge’s recommendation that Wolf be disbarred for misconduct, including repeated misappropriation and acts of moral turpitude, that constituted his fourth discipline. He also made false statements in a declaration under penalty of perjury, collected an illegal fee, failed to promptly pay out or account for client funds and he improperly withdrew from employment.

Wolf asked for review of the hearing judge’s findings, claiming his misconduct is the product of bipolar disorder that has been treated and is under control.

A three-judge review panel found that Wolf committed 15 acts of misconduct in four matters, but also found that his bad behavior, particularly his office management problems, went on for many years. “Since 1991, Wolf has habitually abdicated responsibility for managing his law practice and supervising his staff, which has resulted in repeated failures to maintain client funds and to promptly pay client funds,” wrote Judge Judith Epstein. He misappropriated trust account funds over a 16-year period, the panel found, including during the time while he was under supervision by the bar court.

Wolf became a sole practitioner in 1992, focusing on workers’ compensation and personal injury matters, and successively hiring as many as 15 bookkeepers over 14 years. The bookkeepers handled client funds without Wolf’s supervision. He testified, “I didn’t want to be overseeing these people. I didn’t want the responsibility really.”  Instead, Wolf said that “for years and years and years [I] stuck my head in the sand. . .[and] allowed people to run rampant in my office because I wasn’t on top of things.”

Although he participated in a State Bar program for lawyers with substance abuse or mental health issues and stipulated to misconduct in 18 matters in 2006, he subsequently was charged with additional misconduct in the matter underlying the disbarment recommendation.

He settled a medical malpractice case for $225,000 but took $90,000 as his fee, exceeding the allowable fee. He also did not maintain an adequate balance in his client trust account. The client complained repeatedly that she had not received her full share of the settlement, sued Wolf for malpractice and settled for $70,000.

Wolf settled a personal injury and workers’ compensation claim for another client, but did not distribute the client’s portion of the $90,000 settlement. He finally paid the client $51,037.50 almost 14 years after receiving the funds. In another personal injury case in which the client was entitled to $28,500, Wolf borrowed money to deposit in his client trust account but paid the client just $22,200. The client received the difference from the bar’s Client Security fund, which was reimbursed by Wolf.

In the final case, Wolf turned over his personal injury matters to another lawyer after he closed his offices, but was unable to find someone to handle a wrongful death suit. He eventually formally withdrew, months after he had submitted a declaration to the bar stating that he had no clients.

Wolf has been disciplined three times previously, primarily for mishandling client funds. The review panel rejected his claims of prosecutorial misconduct, although it found some evidence of a lack of good judgment. Although Wolf successfully completed the bar’s Alternative Discipline Program, the review judges said they could not determine if that had an effect on the final charges. Wolf committed further misconduct while in the ADP and under the court’s supervision, calling “into question the effectiveness of his rehabilitative efforts in addressing his underlying emotional difficulties,” the panel wrote.

THOMAS ANDREW HAWBAKER [#140654], 54, of Omaha, Neb., was disbarred Dec. 9, 2011, and was ordered to comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court.

The State Bar Court found that Hawbaker committed five acts of misconduct in a single matter, including misappropriating $12,500 in settlement funds. He also did not account for or promptly pay out client funds.

Hawbaker represented a client in Nebraska after being admitted there pro hac vice and associating with his brother, Joseph, a Nebraska lawyer. He negotiated a $40,000 settlement for his client and issued a check for $12,500 to the client as partial distribution. The client did not cash the check, however, fearing if he did so he would lose the right to later claim any additional settlement funds. The client twice asked Hawbaker to account for the settlement funds but he didn’t respond.

When the client wrote a third letter asking Hawbaker to reissue the check, Hawbaker said the check was still negotiable; however, it had gone stale. Several months later, the client met Hawbaker at his house and loaned him the $12,500 settlement funds because Hawbaker had no money due to a pending divorce. No loan documents were prepared, nor did Hawbaker prepare a conflict-of-interest letter for the client.

Hawbaker testified that the client had earlier agreed to change their oral contingency fee agreement so that the lawyer would receive $25,000 and the client would get $15,000, minus $2,500 that Hawbaker would pay for costs. The client denied any such agreement and the court agreed. Hawbaker never accounted for the funds or gave any money to the client.

State Bar Court Judge Richard Platel found that Hawbaker failed to account for client fund or pay his client any settlement funds and he committed an act of moral turpitude by misappropriating $12,500 from his client. He also failed to cooperate with the bar’s investigation.

In addition to the misconduct charged by the bar, Platel found that Hawbaker’s client paid him $7,500 to pay expenses and costs. Although he deposited the money in his trust account, he later moved it to his general account, testifying that the funds were his money. Platel found that Hawbaker commingled funds in his trust account.

In recommending Hawbaker’s disbarment, Platel said his lack of remorse and lack of recognition of his misconduct “demonstrate that his continued ability to practice law would place the public in peril.”

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