Latest controversy involves sex claim

But even with the new face, problems that have dogged the La Jolla-based law center for several years – complaints from clients, allegations of unethical activity by former lawyers – continue.

Clients unhappy with the firm have sued, as has a former attorney alleging that the law firm engages in illegal business practices and that the sale to Steigerwalt was a fraud.

One case has quietly become the talk of the downtown courthouse, with allegations of poor legal work by the law firm and a sexual relationship.

Antoine Mcelroy, 19, pleaded guilty in December to an attempted murder charge, admitting that he used a firearm and belonged to a street gang. His family had paid Pacific Law Center $31,000 to represent him.

But Mcelroy now says he was coerced into taking the plea agreement, and his new defense lawyer, Thomas Matthews, is trying to reverse it.

In court papers filed to reverse the plea, Mcelroy's 21-year-old sister said she had a sexual relationship for several months last year with Alan E. Spears, the bearded, baritone-voiced lawyer who appeared in many of the firm's commercials.

Mcelroy's sister also said Spears gave her thousands of dollars in cash and bought a 1997 BMW for her. The court papers include financing documents signed by Spears and the woman, and the vehicle registration showing Spears as a co-registrant on the car.

 

Hearing on guilty plea

A hearing on withdrawing the guilty plea is scheduled for Thursday. Spears, who did not negotiate the plea agreement or work on the case, denied that he had any sexual relationship with the woman, Patrice Smalls. Spears said he did help her purchase the vehicle.

But Matthews said the relationship with Mcelroy's sister “taints” the entire case, even if another Pacific Law Center attorney handled the plea. “Their conduct, both professionally and ethically, in this case is reprehensible,” Matthews said.

He argues that Mcelroy did not understand the street gang charge and balked at admitting to it.

“No, no. I didn't do it for the gang,” Mcelroy said, according to a transcript of the Dec. 3 hearing in which he pleaded guilty.

Matthews said that Arthur Katz, the Pacific Law Center lawyer who worked on the case, then stepped in.

“It's my understanding that there had been homicides between the two gangs and that my client did it in retaliation for a gang homicide . . . ” Katz said, according to the transcript.

Mcelroy then admitted to the gang charge. But Matthews contends Katz's statement was improper and he essentially admitted his client's guilt. Mcelroy did not exercise “free judgment,” Matthews said, and that – coupled with what he contends was poor legal work and the relationship with Spears and the sister – created an overall coercive environment that should nullify the guilty plea.

Katz has since left the firm. Reached last week, Katz said he would give his response to the allegations under oath when he testifies at the hearing. Katz said he had no knowledge of any relationship Spears may have had with Mcelroy's sister.

Spears said he believes there was no coercion and Katz properly counseled Mcelroy. He said the issue of whether or not he had a relationship with Mcelroy's sister has nothing to do with the legal question of whether the plea was voluntary and proper.

On Thursday, Steigerwalt fired Spears because of the allegations. “His decision-making does not exemplify the type of lawyer I want working for my law firm,” Steigerwalt said.

 

'Taking care of business'

Steigerwalt purchased 51 percent of the firm last month. He is the majority partner, with Phoenix lawyer Robert Arentz – the former managing partner – having a 49 percent stake.

Since then, Steigerwalt said, he has jettisoned some lawyers, brought on others, refunded some client payments and settled a lawsuit from an angry former client.

Problems, Steigerwalt said, stem from the “old” Pacific Law Center, and he is instituting new measures to improve the law firm. “I'm taking care of business and trying to do the right thing here,” he said.

The Mcelroy matter is one of several issues that the new Kerry Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center faces.

In February, Carl Hancock, a lawyer who worked at the firm for about 10 months, filed a lawsuit alleging that the firm engages in unethical and illegal conduct. Hancock alleges that three nonlawyers – Larry Majors, his son Austin Majors and Jeffrey Phillips, an Arizona lawyer not licensed in California – control the business. Under state law, nonlawyers can't be officers or shareholders of a law firm, Hancock said.

“It's not a legal business model,” said Hancock, who left the firm before Steigerwalt took over. Hancock's lawsuit said his complaints and concerns over the firm's excessive fees and hard-sell sales tactics by nonlawyers drove him out.

Similar accusations have been raised in other suits from former lawyers over the past two years. Those suits were settled out of court before trial.

Hancock also alleges that the sale to Steigerwalt was a “sham sales transaction” to shield the owners from any damages he would win, and Hancock wants a court to cancel the sale.

But Steigerwalt said Hancock's allegations were “ludicrous and outlandish.” He said that after Hancock left and before Steigerwalt took over, Hancock asked him several times for his job back.

Steigerwalt said that Larry Majors “was never involved” in the business and that Jeffrey Phillips has no role in the criminal-defense side of the firm. As part of the deal, Steigerwalt's class-action practice from his old law firm was transferred to Arentz's Arizona firm, where Phillips is also a partner.

Steigerwalt said he was aware of the firm's problems and has been working to fix them. “The problem attorneys are no longer with the firm,” he said. “It was a somewhat disheveled firm, and it needed skilled criminal-law practitioners. It needed the right supervision and the right lawyers.”

Steigerwalt said he has set up a new client-relations department to handle complaints quickly; has a legal ethics lawyer; and has required lawyers to have mandatory professional training each week on legal issues.

 

Lawsuits and complaints

Still, other lawsuits loom, including one from the family of the law firm's highest-profile client, Seth Cravens. Prosecutors contend that Cravens is one of the Bird Rock Bandits, and he faces murder charges in connection with the death of surfer Emery Kaunaui Jr. in May 2007.

Cravens' family hired Pacific Law Center for $175,000 but dropped the firm in January. Cravens is now represented by Alternate Public Defender Mary Ellen Attridge, who has said in court that Pacific Law Center handed over little work that was “usable.”

Now a lawyer hired by Cravens' family said a lawsuit to recover the fees is imminent.

“We're very committed to pursuing it,” said lawyer Douglas Gilliland. He said the firm's accounting shows that paralegals worked more hours on the case than the lawyers.

Complaints from former clients about the law firm have been lodged with the State Bar of California and the San Diego Better Business Bureau.

On March 19, the bureau revoked the law firm's membership, citing a steady pattern of complaints from consumers.

Steigerwalt said he was “flabbergasted” at the number of bureau complaints – 47 in the past 36 months, according to the bureau. He said he elected to let the membership of the old Pacific Law Center expire and plans to seek accreditation under a new entity later this year.

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UC320074	STEIGERWALT, BETH	QUIGGLE, ELLYN	San Diego	Civil	10/07/2005
UC081053	STEIGERWALT, BETH	MEYERS, SPENCER	San Diego	Civil	09/17/1999
U043811	STEIGERWALT, BETH	STAHL, SUZANNE	San Diego	Civil	12/06/1995
SC175490	STEIGERWALT, BETH	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	Kearny Mesa	Civil	08/29/2006
SC108605	STEIGERWALT, BETH	ANDERSON D55891, DONALD	Kearny Mesa	Civil	10/17/2000
SC101284	STEIGERWALT, BETH	ERICKSON, DAWN	Kearny Mesa	Civil	03/03/2000
S688175	STEIGERWALT, BETH	HOOBLER, RAYMOND L	Kearny Mesa	Civil	10/01/1998
L568657	STEIGERWALT, BETH	ESTATE OF ANTHONY PIAZZA	San Diego	Civil	12/01/1994
GIC873268	STEIGERWALT, BETH	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	10/02/2006
GIC860777	STEIGERWALT, BETH	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	02/03/2006
GIC860406	STEIGERWALT, BETH	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	01/27/2006
GIC860255	STEIGERWALT, BETH	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	01/25/2006
GIC860255	STEIGERWALT, BETH	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	01/25/2006
GIC858466	STEIGERWALT, BETH	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	12/16/2005
GIC855390	STEIGERWALT, BETH	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	10/14/2005
SNA001260	STEIGERWALT, BETH L	HUGHES, EDWARD C	North County	Civil	03/14/2000
SN001260	STEIGERWALT, BETH L	HUGHES, EDWARD	North County	Civil	12/08/1999
666169	STEIGERWALT, BETH L	TYZZER, ROBERT	San Diego	Civil	07/02/1993
L568657	STEIGERWALT, EDEN	ESTATE OF ANTHONY PIAZZA	San Diego	Civil	12/01/1994
SC150883	STEIGERWALT, JOLENE	SUNBELT TOWING, INC	Kearny Mesa	Civil	04/02/2004
S664127	STEIGERWALT, KENNY L	KNOX ATTORNEY SERVICE, INC	Kearny Mesa	Civil	03/04/1997
UC081053	STEIGERWALT, KERRY	MEYERS, SPENCER	San Diego	Civil	09/17/1999
U043811	STEIGERWALT, KERRY	STAHL, SUZANNE	San Diego	Civil	12/06/1995
SC175490	STEIGERWALT, KERRY	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	Kearny Mesa	Civil	08/29/2006
SC101284	STEIGERWALT, KERRY	ERICKSON, DAWN	Kearny Mesa	Civil	03/03/2000
GIC873268	STEIGERWALT, KERRY	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	10/02/2006
GIC860777	STEIGERWALT, KERRY	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	02/03/2006
GIC860255	STEIGERWALT, KERRY	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	01/25/2006
GIC860255	STEIGERWALT, KERRY	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	01/25/2006
GIC858466	STEIGERWALT, KERRY	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	12/16/2005
GIC855390	STEIGERWALT, KERRY	QUIGGLE, ELLYN N	San Diego	Civil	10/14/2005
37-2008-00078560-CU-WT-CTL	STEIGERWALT, KERRY	HANCOCK, CARL M	San Diego	Civil	02/22/2008
SC159727	STEIGERWALT, KERRY L	DOMINGUEZ, OFELIA	Kearny Mesa	Civil	01/31/2005
GIC778614	STEIGERWALT, KERRY L	TATE, DAMON	San Diego	Civil	11/20/2001
GIC773619	STEIGERWALT, KERRY L	LOCKHEED MARTIN IMS	San Diego	Civil	08/30/2001
697611	STEIGERWALT, KERRY L	DIERICKX, ANNE LENORE	San Diego	Civil	02/27/1996
37-2008-00021595-SC-SC-EC	STEIGERWALT, KERRY L	LARTIGAU, ALBERT	East County	Civil	07/31/2008
666169	STEIGERWALT, KEVIN	TYZZER, ROBERT	San Diego	Civil	07/02/1993
195430	STEIGERWALT, KEVIN	NCO FINANCIAL SYSTEMS INC	North County	Civil	03/16/1999
S592862	STEIGERWALT, ATTY, KERRY L	NGUYEN, HUNG T	Kearny Mesa	Civil	12/08/1992
S656550	STEIGERWALT, ESQ, BETH	DYSART, DUBICK & BAGLEY	Kearny Mesa	Civil	09/09/1996