A new program implemented by the California State Bar has put a local lawyer on a list of 11 attorneys who are considered a “threat to public safety.” The Malibu attorney is also facing felony charges for grand theft and misdemeanor charges in a separate case filed by the city.
By Laura Tate/Editor
The September issue of the California Bar Journal, the official publication of the California State Bar, indicated that Malibu lawyer Sam Birenbaum has been ordered “inactive,” effectively suspending him from practicing law in California.
In the journal article titled “‘Bad apples’ now face fast discipline,” Birenbaum was one on a list of lawyers identified as a threat to public safety and who are under investigation or have had charges filed against them. The bar is trying to remove them from practice on an expedited basis.
Birenbaum has been charged and tried in the State Bar Court for allegedly stealing clients’ funds. The bar subsequently ordered him “involuntarily enrolled as an inactive member of the State Bar” in June.
The State Bar alleged that Birenbaum stole approximately $500,000 from clients, in one case allegedly putting a client’s $100,000 divorce settlement in his client trust account instead of following the client’s instructions to deposit the money in a brokerage account. He then allegedly spent half the client’s funds to pay off other clients and spent the other half as a money order payable to himself.
The bar ordered Birenbaum inactive in June, following an investigation and then hearings.
Victoria Molloy, the State Bar chief trial counsel in Los Angeles, said the fast track program began in January in “an effort by the office to put extra resources on attorneys we believe are a substantial threat to the public.”
She further stated that the crimes Birenbaum is accused of are “very serious” and usually result in disbarment.
Birenbaum, 53, was arrested by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies early in September 2001 and charged with criminal grand theft of clients’ funds, which are felonies. He later posted $115,000 in bail.
The case has been winding its way through the California court system and has been continued for various reasons. Another preliminary conference is scheduled for Oct. 25. It is one of several charges Birenbaum is facing, and was included in the State Bar charges.
Molloy said Birenbaum never responded to an order to appear before the bar, nor did he request a hearing or appear in court.
Birenbaum, in a phone interview, at first said his “only comment is that allegations are not evidence and the truth is a complete defense,” a mantra he repeated several times in response to questions about the State Bar allegations and proceedings.
Later, Birenbaum said the reason he did not respond to the charges “is because I want to respond at the appropriate time in the appropriate manner and place.”
Of the court proceedings in June, Birenbaum said, “It was an interim decision.”
He said there is to be a full hearing in January.
However, Molloy said the hearing in January is a disciplinary hearing, adding, “There is nothing interim in this decision. The order is effective. It renders him ineligible to practice law [and] will not be set aside. What will be decided in January is the level of discipline.”
Molloy said a full-time Los Angeles fast-track team of two attorneys, with the help of two investigators, looked at the alleged conduct of Birenbaum “by way of compiling and evaluating evidence,” and after the investigation, she said, “We were satisfied we could prove those allegations.”
Molloy said she is 100 percent certain that Birenbaum committed the crimes he is charged with.
“She’s obviously not affording me the presumption of innocence,” Birenbaum said, adding, “Allegations are not evidence, and I would rather rely on evidence.
“I’m looking forward to presenting evidence, not public commentary as she has presented.”
The Malibu lawyer later added, “I have practiced law since 1974 in California … for 28 years … and [I have] never been disciplined in 28 years of active practice, and I plan on practicing another 28 years if I openly want to, if that’s my choice.
“I would appreciate people waiting until the evidence is presented before coming to a conclusion. I am not going to try the case in the press, like they are doing to get publicity.”
Birenbaum and his wife, Nidia, have also been in court with the city on misdemeanor charges of violating city codes for allegedly building unpermitted structures on the couple’s beachfront property. The two pled no contest to the charges and were due for sentencing mid-June, with Sam Birenbaum representing his wife. However, sentencing was continued several times. Birenbaum’s sentencing was continued to allow his new attorney to familiarize himself with the case. Nidia Birenbaum’s sentencing was continued after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge J. Richard Stone was informed her husband’s standing with the State Bar revealed he is not entitled to practice law and therefore could no longer represent his wife.
The Birenbaums, who have long been feuding with neighbors over the issue of dogs on beaches, have also been ordered by the judge to have no contact with specific neighbors and to stay at least 50 yards away from them. Nidia Birenbaum, who broadcasts a local cable access TV show called “Cookie Cutter” where she shows the filming she takes of her neighbors, as well as of city government officials, was allowed to continue filming the neighbors in public, but only at a distance of 50 yards.