SAN FRANCISCO — The career for one of the Bay Area’s most famous defense attorneys has come to its abrupt end, after she pleaded no contest to numerous instances of misconduct that included fleecing people, lying about her work and causing “significant harm” to clients in the process.
Claire White was known for her courtroom successes and fiery online social media personality, where she dolled out legal tips and war stories on Instagram, described police officers as “pigs,” railed against “snitches” and celebrated legal wills, all under her own law firm’s slogan, “We fight, (expletive) you.”
But state bar officials linked White to 40 counts of misconduct, involving 10 clients, over a six-year period, including “acts of moral turpitude (misappropriation and conversion), misrepresentations to clients and the court, unauthorized practice of law, co-mingling client and personal funds, failing to perform diligently, failing to deposit advanced fees into a client trust account, failing to return client files, failing to respond to client inquiries, and failing to provide an accounting to her clients upon reasonable request.”
White was fighting her discipline case, but pleaded no contest to widespread misconduct earlier this month. As part of a stipulation, six counts were dismissed. Last week, White was formally disbarred, and her popular Instagram account has since been deleted.
State bar officials argued for her disbarment, stating in court filings that White had not only accepted tens of thousands in legal fees for services she failed to perform, but in many cases her clients languished in jail because of it.
“In several matters, (White’s) misconduct resulted in longer or additional incarceration for her clients,” her disbarment statement says. “Since all of respondent’s 10 clients were incarcerated for most or all of her representation, they had limited ability to keep apprised of their attorney’s efforts or the status of their cases.”
Before White’s no contest plea, her lawyer filed court papers accusing the state bar of sitting on some of the allegations for years to make it harder for White to defend them, noting White’s “personal transformation” in recent months, and describing several of the charges as being the result of a simple misunderstanding. For example, an alleged false statement was “imprecise,” not false, the filings say.
“At all relevant times, (White) acted in good faith, with a sincere and continuing commitment to her clients and ethical obligations,” the filing says.
But state bar officials said White’s misconduct continued even after she was noticed about the pending discipline. They cited one instance last July, after White had been notified of a discipline case, where she was double-booked with two court hearings in Napa and Solano counties. While appearing in one case, she attended a video conference in the other, falsely claimed to be unable to work due to medical leave, and returned to court in the first matter.
The state bar noted several mitigating factors, like her lack of disciplinary history, her trauma due to past military service, and support letters from attorneys and former clients. The first act of misconduct occurred in early 2019, less than a year after White’s husband, a well-known Bay Area social justice advocate, died of a rare autoimmune disease, according to court records.
White didn’t respond to requests for comment. Her lawyer, Mark Reichel, said in a statement that no can dispute she is “a wonderfully smart, talented and compassionate person who does the best she can every day to make the world a better place.”
“The few occasions that she was not her best self as an attorney do not define her legacy,” Reichel said. “I am confident that next chapter for Claire White will impress us all and garner admiration again.”
