Attorney Jailed After Missing Court Date on License Charges

A Chatsworth attorney was arrested when he failed to appear in court to be arraigned on charges that he practiced law with a suspended license, authorities said.

Daniel Webster Bowles III was arrested Tuesday in his Chatsworth home after he failed to appear May 6 in San Bernardino County, where he is charged with five misdemeanor counts of practicing law without a license, said Meredith S. Rust, a deputy district attorney in San Fernando.

Rust said Bowles, 38, also failed to appear May 19 in Van Nuys on a traffic violation case in which he was cited for having an unregistered vehicle and no proof of insurance.

Bowles is being held in County Jail in lieu of $310,233 bail.

At Bowles’ home Tuesday, police also arrested Pamela Catherine Mahn, 33, who failed to appear in Norwalk Superior Court after being held to answer on one felony count of possession of cocaine or amphetamines, Rust said.

Mahn is being held at Sybil Brand Institute without bail.

Bowles’ license was suspended by the State Bar of California on Sept. 29, 1986, because he did not pay a $180 membership fee. He was reinstated earlier this year after paying back dues and late penalties of $1,116, said Ann Charles, a State Bar spokeswoman. He nonetheless faces criminal prosecution because, by law, all attorneys practicing in the state must be members of the Bar, she said.

Charles said the organization intends to recommend to the state Supreme Court that Bowles be disbarred because he violated rules of professional conduct from 1983 to 1985.

The State Bar found Bowles guilty March 7 of taking advance fees without performing promised services and failing to notify a client of a cash award issued by a court.

Bowles was arrested April 1--shortly before he paid his back dues--at the Rancho Cucamonga branch of the San Bernardino Superior Court on suspicion of practicing law without a license. He posted $5,000 bail and was released.

Five days later, he was arrested in the San Fernando Courthouse when he attempted to appear on behalf of a client.