Suspension And More Probation For Non-Compliance With Conditions Of Probation

A stayed two-year suspension with six months actual suspension and probation is the appropriate sanction for an attorney who had violated a previously-imposed probation, according to a recommendation of the California State Bar Review Department.

The original probation was as a result of threatening messages sent by the attorney after his removal as co-executor of his father’s estate

 Thereafter, in 2004 and 2005, he left a total of 53 threatening and abusive voicemail messages for the successor administrator, the attorney for the administrator, and the ex officio judge of a North Carolina court.

The probation has not gone well and the attorney’s explanations for his lapses did not persuade

Elkins has demonstrated that he fails to grasp the importance of strict compliance with probation conditions, despite reminders and warnings from Probation. Timely filing quarterly reports plays an important role in the rehabilitative process “because it requires the attorney, four times a year, to review and reflect upon his professional conduct . . . [and ] to review his conduct to ensure that he complies with all of the conditions of his disciplinary probation.” (In the Matter of Wiener (Review Dept. 1997) 3 Cal. State Bar Ct. Rptr. 759, 763.) Of equal importance is Elkins’s failure to timely attend and report completion of Ethics School. This information assures the State Bar that the attorney has reviewed and considered anew his professional responsibilities. Elkins’s failures constitute willful, repeated, and serious probation violations.

(Mike Frisch)