Clark spent 33 days in jail
SM COURTHOUSE — After spending 33 days behind bars, a local woman was convicted Tuesday of illegally posing as an attorney and taking close to $50,000 from clients.
Bound by handcuffs and wearing a jail-issued green jumpsuit, Anita Laureen Clark pleaded no contest to 10 of the 46 criminal counts she faced, including six counts of grand theft. The disabled mother of three can avoid additional jail time and be placed on probation, if she returns the money to her victims.
Clark, who worked out of offices on Wilshire Boulevard and Bicknell Street, was arrested in December after a four-month investigation. She immediately posted bail, but was subsequently taken back into custody on two separate occasions after prosecutors alleged she continued to work as a lawyer. Clark was last jailed May 12.
After paying $5,000 towards the restitution fund, Clark was freed Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Neither Clark nor Richard DeBro, her attorney, were available for comment. In March, Clark said she was the victim of an overzealous City Attorney’s Office, adding that mostly she just performed routine paperwork.
Still, Clark did acknowledge she had made some mistakes. Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky said Clark’s case was the most serious violation of consumer protections City Hall had seen in several years. Clark took as much as $7,000 from each of three dozen people, Radinsky said.
“It’s a very sad case, because you have a person who clearly was out of control with her illegal behavior and, on the other hand, you have dozens and dozens of victims who not only were bilked out of their money, but also had their very important legal cases messed up in the process,” he said.
“It’s a very sad case...” — – ADAM RADINSKY Prosecutor
According to an agreement with prosecutors, Clark will avoid a three-year jail sentence as long as she abides by the terms of a five-year formal probation sentence. Clark must also repay her victims $49,716, not take any jobs in the legal profession, cancel all ads and phone numbers for her business and maintain a full-time job. She may also have to compensate other victims not covered in the action.
One such victim was Mark Malkowski, an 18-year resident of Santa Monica who paid Clark $1,500 to file immigration papers for his South American wife. Malkowski said Tuesday he was pleased with the settlement agreement, as long as Clark has the ability — and does — repay her victims.
Like several other clients, Malkowski said Clark presented herself as an attorney when he and his wife met with her. That appearance was followed by a lack of action and a series of unreturned phone calls.
“We met her on a Saturday,” explained Malkowski. “I work on Saturdays, so I’m accustomed to people being somewhat casual... but the casualness was reflected more afterwards, when we didn’t get copies of the documentation. Nor did we get a receipt for the work performed.”
The investigation into Clark began last year. Clark has said she moved from an office in Ocean Park to an office on Wilshire Boulevard after divorcing her husband in 2002. The rent there was raised substantially after three years, forcing her to move her office again, said Clark, who added she missed a month’s worth of messages due to a phone line mix-up. Prosecutors seized Clark’s records in August.
It’s a crime to practice law without a license. Practicing law constitutes giving legal advice, making legal decisions in a case, claiming to be an expert in an area of law, contacting an opposing party and writing legal documents, according to Radinsky. Non-attorneys can only provide clerical help or do paralegal work under a certified attorney. Clark is not being charged with any crimes related to document preparers.
“This case sends a clear message to consumers with legal problems,” Radinsky said in a statement issued Tuesday. “If you try to save money by hiring a non-attorney, beware — they are breaking the law if they perform lawyer-like services without a supervising attorney.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 9, 2004. Read the original PDF.