DA levies new charges against disbarred lawyer for illegal practice, defrauding clients

New victims of a lawyer disbarred nine months ago have stepped forward, prompting San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin to announce new charges Monday.

The charges against Russell Robinson add to initial charges in November that he ignored his June disbarment and continued to practice law, Boudin said, adding that more victims have come forward in the past five months to claim they had retained Robinson’s services as an attorney.

According to a news release from Boudin’s office, the new allegations claim Robinson falsely represented case information to clients, pretending cases were ongoing after they had actually ended years earlier in dismissal or other court orders.

It is alleged that Robinson never told clients he was suspended from practicing law in June 2019 and disbarred in June 2021.

Boudin said in the statement:

“The public should be able to trust lawyers to follow the law, but here a disbarred attorney exploited his clients by continuing to practice as an attorney. … We are glad that our initial announcement filing charges helped identify additional victims, so we can seek justice for everyone he has wronged.”

Robinson now faces two new felony counts of unauthorized practice of law and two felony counts of willful failure to comply with the California Supreme Court’s disbarment order.

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