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# Woman jailed for posing as lawyer... again
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/woman-jailed-for-posing-as-lawyer-again/
- Published: 2004-03-12T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:00:54.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Crime, Ocean Park, #archive-import

*Passing the bars of another kind, already charged with same crime*

SM COURTHOUSE — A Santa Monica woman was sent back to jail this week for allegedly continuing to practice law without a license even while being prosecuted for dozens of counts of the misdemeanor crime.

“It’s just a no-brainer for me,” said Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Bernard Kamins, immediately before Sheriff’s deputies handcuffed Anita Clark. Kamins added he would have doubled Clark’s $150,000 bail if prosecutors had requested it, because he considers her a danger to the community who should be tried as a felon.

Clark, 44, worked for years out of an office in Ocean Park. She faces a total of 44 criminal counts, ranging from grand theft by fraud to illegally acting as an immigration consultant to practicing law without a license. Prosecutors allege she’s taken more than $60,000 from clients, performing little or no work in many of the cases.

A somber Clark was led out of the courtroom by deputies. Though she was freed on $150,000 bond last year, Clark’s bail was raised by the judge to $175,000\. She posted the extra $25,000 and was freed early Thursday morning, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Clark, a disabled mother of three, claimed in an interview before the Wednesday hearing that she’s being pursued by overzealous prosecutors. She said she’s a credentialed paralegal who never pretended to be a lawyer, adding she did-n’t know she was supposed to stop working with her clients after being indicted last year.

“I screwed up some stuff,” she said. “I mean, I’m not an angel. Okay, I screwed some up.”

Clark said she moved from her Bicknell Street location to a new office on Wilshire Boulevard after divorcing her husband in 2002\. After about a year there, the rent was raised considerably, forcing her to move again. She contends she missed about a month’s worth of messages due to a phone line mix-up.

That’s around the time the City Attorney’s Office started tracking her. Prosecutors seized her records in August, later sending letters to thousands of current and past clients, according to Clark. Dozens signed onto the action against her, she feels, because her files were taken and she was unable to get in touch with many of them.

Richard DeBro, Clark’s lawyer and a former office neighbor, argued City Hall is trying to limit what a paralegal can do. He said Clark — a UCLA graduate who completed one year of law school before earning her paralegal certification — filled out routine paperwork for clients, such as for divorces, bankruptcies and other proceedings.

“Non-lawyers can perform a lot of tasks,” DeBro said. “They can’t go to court, they can’t perform complex litigation — but there’s plenty of things they can do.”

Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky, who is prosecuting the case, declined to comment on the evidence. He has said in the past that the case is the worst example of consumer fraud seen by the city in years, adding it should remind residents to double check the backgrounds of their attorneys and paralegals.

Under state law, it’s a crime for a person to practice law without being a licensed attorney. “Practicing law” includes giving legal advice, making legal decisions in a case, claiming to be an expert in an area of law, contacting the opposing party and writing legal documents. Non-attorneys are limited to two roles — providing clerical help or doing paralegal work directly under a supervising attorney, Radinsky has said.

Clark is not being charged with any crimes related to document preparers.

Stefan Broadley, 34, a native of New Zealand who hired Clark to help him prepare his immigration papers, was at the courthouse Wednesday to confront Clark. He said he wouldn’t continue to pursue Clark if she returns the $1,200 he paid her, something Clark told him on Wednesday she was eager to do.

“At this point in time, if I got my money back,” said Broadley, a struggling music producer who lives with his wife in Venice, “I would (settle), just because I know so many other people are filing against her.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 12, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031204.pdf?ref=smdp.com)