Lawyer's popular Instagram account is kaput after no-contest plea to misconduct deemed 'standard operating procedure'
A California lawyer with a big social media presence should be disbarred after pleading no contest to facts underpinning multiple acts of alleged misconduct involving 10 imprisoned clients and 13 cases, according to a stipulation and conclusions of law approved by a state bar court judge.
Lawyer Claire Jacqueline White of California was “one of the Bay Area’s most famous defense attorneys,” according to a report on the ethics case by the Mercury News. The founder and owner of the Dope Law Group in California, White was “known for her courtroom successes and fiery online social media personality” on Instagram in which she shared legal tips, called police officers “pigs” and complained about “snitches.”
White’s Instagram account is no longer online, the publication reports.
The stipulation filed Oct. 14 seeks to resolve two consolidated ethics complaints that had alleged that White took fees from several clients while producing “no legal work of value” in return.
White’s misconduct included misappropriation, conversion, misrepresentations to clients and judges, commingling client and personal funds, failing to perform diligently, and failing to respond to client inquiries, according to a summary of aggravating factors in the stipulation. Six ethics counts against her were dismissed as part of the stipulation.
The repeated nature of White’s performance violations over a six-year period “demonstrates that these acts are her standard operating procedure,” according to a discussion of authority in the stipulation.
Mitigating factors included her diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder related to military service, the stipulation said.
White pleaded no contest to the facts comprising the stipulation, which is treated as an admission of the stipulated facts and culpability, a State Bar of California spokesperson told the ABA Journal. She also stipulated to aggravating factors and to disbarment as the appropriate discipline.
White is currently ineligible to practice law but not disbarred, the spokesperson said. The State Bar Court of California—the administrative arm of the California Supreme Court—anticipates sending the stipulation to the California Supreme Court in 30 days, and the state supreme court will likely rule on the disbarment recommendation in another 60 to 90 days.
In several matters, White’s misconduct resulted in longer or additional incarceration for her clients, representing “significant harm” to them, according to the stipulation. In one matter, she told a client who went out of town for a funeral that if he missed a court date, a warrant would be issued, but she would get it cleared. After missing the hearing, the client was taken into custody in February 2020 and remained incarcerated until April 2022, the stipulation said
She also made misrepresentations about hiring an investigator in one case and about being out on medical leave in another.
The stipulation said White should make restitution of more than $45,000. White’s misconduct “was dishonest, repeated and serious, and the amount misappropriated is not insignificant,” the stipulation said.
White didn’t immediately respond to a Journal email seeking comment.
White’s lawyer, Mark Reichel, told the Mercury News that White is “a wonderfully smart, talented and compassionate person who does the best she can every day to make the world a better place.”
“The few occasions that she was not her best self as an attorney do not define her legacy,” Reichel said. “I am confident that next chapter for Claire White will impress us all and garner admiration again.”
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