Local News in Brief : Judge Lowers Bail, Tells Lawyer Not to Practice
A San Fernando Municipal Court judge reduced bail Thursday from $250,000 to $25,000 for a Van Nuys lawyer arrested on suspicion of practicing with a suspended California State Bar license.
Judge Michael S. Luros said he reduced the bail, which he set Wednesday for Daniel Webster Bowles III, 38, on the condition that Bowles not practice law. The Bar had suspended his license because of nonpayment of membership dues.
Ann Charles, a California State Bar spokeswoman, said Bowles was under investigation by the organization when he stopped paying dues. She said the Bar intends to recommend to the California Supreme Court that Bowles be disbarred because, from 1983 to 1985, he violated rules of professional conduct, including taking advance fees and then failing to perform promised services.
An unidentified woman Wednesday paid the $1,116 in California State Bar dues owed by Bowles, Luros said, and Bowles was reinstated. However, Charles said the Bar “will take measures to protect the public,” and that Bowles’ license could be suspended again within a week, pending a decision by the court.
Bowles was arrested Wednesday in the San Fernando Courthouse on suspicion of practicing law without a license five days after he was arrested in San Bernardino County on similar charges. On Friday, he posted $5,000 bail in the San Bernardino case and was released.
Bowles was still in custody late Thursday afternoon and said in court that he might have difficulty raising the $25,000 bail.
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