Foreign Consultant Disbarred

The Minnesota Supreme Court has disbarred a foreign legal consultant

Disbarment is the appropriate discipline for a foreign legal consultant who misappropriated clients’ funds, engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, neglected client matters, failed to communicate with clients, failed to return unearned fees, forged a client’s signature on a document filed with a court, failed to adequately supervise nonlawyer assistants, falsely represented that he was authorized to practice law, failed to make required disclosures for a foreign legal consultant, and failed to cooperate with the Director’s investigation.

Respondent

Villanueva was licensed to practice law in Mexico in 2005. He received a foreign legal consultant license in Minnesota on March 24, 2014. As a foreign legal consultant, although Villanueva was authorized to provide legal services in Minnesota regarding the law of Mexico, he was not authorized to provide legal services regarding the law of the United States, Minnesota, or any other state.

The misconduct involved eight client matters over five years and included misappropriation. (Mike Frisch)