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West L.A. Attorney Agrees to Disbarment for Fruitless Filings
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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AARON SPOLIN attorney |
West Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Aaron Spolin has entered into a stipulation with the Office of Chief Trial Counsel in which he agreed that he should be disbarred for misconduct relating to his repeated collection of legal fees from his clients and their families for filing resentencing petitions that were unlikely to be granted, the State Bar announced Wednesday.
State Bar Court Judge Phong Wang approved the stipulation on Tuesday and made the disbarment recommendation to the California Supreme Court.
The regulatory agency said that Spolin will be placed on involuntary inactive status effective as of June 20 and will remain unable to practice law until the Supreme Court rules on his case. In Wednesday’s press release, the State Bar said:
“As part of the stipulation, Spolin admitted that he charged and collected unconscionable fees from his incarcerated clients and their families for legal work that was unlikely to result in any meaningful sentencing relief for the clients. Spolin further admitted that he engaged in the charged misconduct to obtain attorney fees for personal gain.”
He told the inmates’ families that he was requesting relief under AB 2942, which was enacted in 2018 and gives district attorneys the power to recommend the recall and resentencing of a defendant if the prosecutorial office believes that the length of the original sentence does not serve the interests of justice.
Spolin faced two Notices of Disciplinary Charges (NCDs), one filed in August and the other in November, alleging that between February and April of 2021, he received at least nine letters from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office advising him that the petitions for relief would not be acted upon as the organization was establishing an internal unit for the evaluation of eligible cases and that “there was no need to take any action to be considered for resentencing.”
According to the NDCs, he received eight similar letters from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Despite these notifications, he charged family members of incarcerated convicts an initial “case review” fee of $3,000 and additional fees for preparing the requests. In one case, he charged the sister of Thomas Stringer, who is serving a sentence of 160 years to life in prison for kidnapping and other charges, $14,700 to complete the needless resentencing petition.
Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona commented on the case, saying:
“California attorneys are sworn to a duty to act in the best interests of their clients. Spolin failed in that duty by misleading inmates and their families and charging them unconscionable fees for his own personal gain. This was serious misconduct justifying disbarment.
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