State Bar moves to disbar Oakdale attorney, suspends Turlock lawyer

Oakdale attorney Richard Carroll Sinclair should be disbarred for “consistently and repeatedly engaging in deceptive and improper conduct in an effort to procure personal financial gain,” a California State Bar Court judge concluded after a five-day trial.

In another State Bar proceeding, Turlock attorney Justin Thomas Allen was suspended for 60 days after admitting that he mishandled three clients’ cases.

Office telephone numbers for both have been disconnected and The Modesto Bee was unable to reach either. Court documents related to their discipline were made public this week.

They have nothing to do with James Arthur Fonda, an Oakdale attorney arrested Wednesday whose disbarment also is pending after he admitted stealing up to $210,000 of a client’s money.

Sinclair, 67, “engaged in a fraudulent real estate scheme,” “disobeyed or violated an order of the court” on two occasions, and failed to report to the bar that a judge in 2012 had punished him with a $1,500 sanction, State Bar Court Judge Pat McElroy found in a July 28 ruling.

Her recommendation to yank Sinclair’s license will proceed to the California Supreme Court, which retains authority for disbarments. He was ordered not to practice law in the meantime.

“(Sinclair’s) actions demonstrate his indifference toward rectification or atonement for the consequences of his misconduct,” McElroy said in her ruling. “Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, (he) maintains he did nothing wrong and sees himself as the victim.”

Sinclair represented himself at the bar court trial. A Modesto Bee report on attorney discipline in May noted that before the proceeding, Sinclair had denied all charges in response documents and listed as mitigating factors his divorce and relearning to walk after four surgeries.

He lost a previous civil lawsuit that ended with a judgment, saying he committed 28 acts of misconduct related to a townhome complex he and investors built in Turlock. That case provided the basis for the bar’s enforcement action.

Such prosecution, however, requires independent verification and McElroy dismissed charges that Sinclair had lied at trial and altered a trial exhibit to cover a lie.

Sprinkled throughout the judge’s 35-page ruling are several references to her finding Sinclair’s testimony “not credible,” “highly suspect,” “unbelievable” and “disingenuous at best.” For example, Sinclair “claims to have no memory of a jury trial in April 2011,” McElroy wrote, despite having filed 91 related court documents and made 27 appearances before participating in the five-day proceeding.

Sinclair last year was publicly reproved for taking $3,000 to work on a home mortgage loan modification, failing to “provide any services of value” and refusing to refund the money until after the client complained to the State Bar.

Allen, 40, refused to refund unearned fees or return a client’s file, failed to perform with competence, failed to keep clients informed of significant case developments and refused to cooperate with bar investigations, the bar reported.

In two cases, Allen suggested in texts or emails that clients hire another lawyer because he was sick. When one man told Turlock police that Allen refused to hand over the client’s file, Allen said he would provide free information to police while charging the client “.50 cents per page” for paper copies, an enforcement document says.

In another case, a judge fined Allen’s client $1,710 when the woman, who had dismissed Allen, was not responding to court orders – because Allen had given the court a wrong address.

Allen avoided trial by agreeing to submit to discipline, and was ordered to pay $11,910 in restitution.

Allen’s 60-day suspension went into effect in February. His status on the bar’s website remains listed as “not eligible to practice law” with a July 1 entry indicating he had failed to pay bar member dues.

This story was originally published August 6, 2015 at 4:56 PM with the headline "State Bar moves to disbar Oakdale attorney, suspends Turlock lawyer."