Friday, May 1, 2026
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Supreme Court Orders 30-Day Suspension for Ex-State Bar Executive Director Joseph Dunn
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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JOSEPH DUNN former State Bar executive director |
The California high court has ordered that former Executive Director of the State Bar Joseph Dunn, 67, be suspended from practicing law for one year, with execution stayed, and face an actual suspension for the first 30 days of his 365 day probationary period relating to charges that he intentionally misled the body’s Board of Trustees during his tenure by saying, in 2013, that no agency funds would be used to fund a then-upcoming trip to Mongolia.
Wednesday’s order follows the recommendations of the State Bar Court and denies Dunn’s petition for review.
Last July, a three-judge panel of the body’s Review Department partially disagreed with State Bar Judge Yvette D. Roland, who proposed a fully-stayed suspension, and opined, in a decision authored by Tamara M. Ribas, that “a 30-day actual suspension is the appropriate discipline in this matter.” Ribas wrote:
“One of the most fundamental rules for attorneys is honesty….We consider the absence of aggravation and the substantial mitigation but find a period of actual suspension is warranted here given the serious misconduct that occurred in Dunn’s position as Executive Director of the State Bar….[W]e find a 30-day actual suspension is necessary to protect the public, the courts, and the legal profession.”
According to Ribas’ opinion, during the January 2014 trip, Dunn was accompanied by then-State Bar investigator Tom Layton, who was frequently in the company of now-disbarred attorney Tom Girardi, and an ex-president of the attorney-oversight body, Howard Miller, who was working for Girardi’s firm at the time of travel.
Despite assurances to the State Bar at its November 2013 meeting that no agency funds would be expended for the trip, $6,041.72 in airfare and cell phone charges were later billed to and paid by the body. Later that year, Girardi’s firm sent a $5,000 check made payable to the State Bar Access & Education Foundation, purportedly to cover the trip expenses.
On October 30, 2014, Dunn was fired from his position. He filed a complaint for wrongful termination, and the parties settled the dispute.
Dunn, a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, was admitted to the practice of law in California in 1986. He served as the executive director for the State Bar between November 2010 and November 2014.
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