Lawyer with huge social media following is accused of performing 'no legal work of value' for several clients
A California lawyer with more than 60,000 Instagram followers is accused in an ethics complaint of taking fees from several clients while producing “no legal work of value” in return. (Image from Shutterstock)
A California lawyer with more than 60,000 Instagram followers is accused in an ethics complaint of taking fees from several clients while producing “no legal work of value” in return.
Lawyer Claire Jacqueline White of the Dope Law Group in California was accused in two separate complaints, the Mercury News reports.
In the latest ethics complaint dated May 1, White was accused of ethics violations in the handling of criminal matters for eight clients. With regard to six of those clients, White performed legal work of little or no value despite receiving more than $50,000 in fees, the complaint alleges.
In a prior Jan. 22 complaint, White was accused of missing court dates on at least nine occasions and failing to exercise diligence on behalf of one client who paid her $10,000.
White, who was admitted to practice in California in 2016, is known as “a fierce and persuasive lawyer,” according to the Mercury News. She uses her Instagram account to post legal tips that include warning people not to talk to police and to “stop snitching,” the article says.
The ethics complaints include allegations that White:
• Told one client that he could miss a court date because of a funeral, and if a warrant was issued, she would get it cleared. She allegedly failed to inform the court that the client would miss court, causing him to be taken into custody and to lose his job.
• Signed a written declaration, filed under penalty of perjury, asserting that an investigator had been hired to do work on her client’s case, even though it was not true.
• Failed to deposit advance fees from clients into a trust account and used some of the fees for personal expenses that included food deliveries, entertainment expenses and cash withdrawals.
• Accepted legal fees from third parties on behalf of clients without obtaining their written consent.
In her February response to the first ethics complaint, White said she acted in good faith with a reasonable belief that her conduct complied with disciplinary rules, and she took appropriate steps to safeguard client funds.
White’s lawyer, Mark Reichel, praised his client in a statement to the Mercury News.
“Claire is an exceptionally effective and tremendously talented attorney,” Reichel told the newspaper. “If the world had more Claire Whites, it would be a supremely better place.”
Lawyers for the state bar are seeking to consolidate the two ethics cases.
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