Attorney Suspended After Abandoning Clients

Over strong dissent, the state Supreme Court refused by a vote of 4 to 3 Thursday to disbar a lawyer who in part blamed agoraphobia, the fear of going out in public, for a disappearance that left several clients without an attorney.

The court majority, rejecting a recommendation by the California State Bar, said that although the attorney’s condition did not excuse his actions, disbarment would be “too harsh” under the circumstances.

Instead, the justices suspended Newport Beach lawyer John Earl Frazer from practicing law for at least 18 months on charges that he abandoned 11 clients in the midst of their cases and failed to repay loans he obtained from others.

The court ordered Frazer to pay $52,860 in restitution to four clients and said his suspension would be extended if he fails to pay.

Three justices dissented, noting that Frazer was able to carry out several profitable financial transactions for himself during the time he claimed he suffered agoraphobia and severe depression.

Justice David N. Eagleson, joined by Chief Justice Malcolm M. Lucas and Justice John A. Arguelles, said the lawyer “has demonstrated an unmitigated, selfish disregard for others which simply should not be tolerated in the legal profession.”

Eagleson wrote that Frazer had “literally abandoned” 11 clients in 1980-81, disappearing from his office and leaving them no way to contact him.

In the time he allegedly suffered from the malady, Frazer was able to obtain $37,000 in loans from other clients, negotiate a $450,000 loan from an investment firm and twice take trips to San Diego in the course of the transactions, Eagleson noted.

“Since (Frazer’s) mental condition did not affect his ability to protect his own interests, his failure to protect the interests of his clients is inexcusable,” Eagleson wrote.

Frazer, an attorney since 1974, said Thursday in a telephone interview that he is pleased with the court’s action and praised the justices for recognizing “complex mitigation issues” that influence an attorney’s actions.

The attorney’s difficulties arose while he was practicing law in San Bernardino County. He said he has worked without ill effects since he moved to Newport Beach and began undergoing treatment in 1982.

The State Bar Court had recommended to the justices that Frazer be disbarred for misconduct resulting from financial difficulties, depression, the unannounced closing of his office in Big Bear and his disappearance from the area in 1981.

The court majority chose the lesser punishment in an unsigned opinion issued by Justices Stanley Mosk, Allen E. Broussard, Edward A. Panelli and Marcus M. Kaufman.

Incapacitating Condition

The court noted that a person suffering from agoraphobia can become so incapacitated by anxiety that he cannot leave his home or even talk on the telephone.

The justices said the Bar Court had given too little consideration to the effect of the disease and to such other mitigating factors as his depression and financial difficulty, which resulted in his bankruptcy, eviction from his office and loss of his home.

The justices noted also that Frazer’s record otherwise is unblemished and that he had expressed remorse and intended to pay everyone he owed.