Attorney Jailed for Practicing While Suspended

An attorney whose license to practice law was suspended shortly after his 1992 conviction for possession of LSD was arrested Friday at a Camarillo motel on suspicion of filing bankruptcy petitions on behalf of clients, prosecutors said.

Investigators from the Ventura County district attorney’s office arrested Douglas Andrew Palaschak, 43, around 11 a.m. in Room 236 at the Good Nite Inn in Camarillo, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin DeNoce.

DeNoce said Palaschak was receiving a check from a client at the moment investigators entered the room with an arrest warrant for the suspended lawyer.

According to DeNoce, Palaschak has been handling federal bankruptcy matters in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

Apparently, DeNoce said, Palaschak figured he could still practice law in federal court because his license was suspended by the State Bar, not federal authorities.

“I think he was trying to limit himself to federal court in order to escape prosecution,” the prosecutor said.

But the district attorney’s office contacted the officials at the federal court and “they told us he was not authorized to practice,” DeNoce said.

Palaschak was transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was being held in lieu of $5,000 bail, a jail spokesman said. He is expected to be arraigned Monday.

The attorney’s trouble with the law began May 9, 1991. That was when he and his then-18-year-old secretary, Jessica Jobin, were arrested after another office worker informed police they had been using LSD in the office.

Jobin pleaded guilty to possession of LSD and testified against Palaschak.

Palaschak was acquitted of furnishing LSD to a minor, a teen-age job applicant, and conspiracy to possess the drug, but convicted of possession of LSD. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, three years probation and a drug treatment program. DeNoce said the conviction is under appeal.

But the State Bar launched an investigation of Palaschak over several allegations, including a contract he asked prospective female employees to sign. Palaschak’s license to practice law was suspended, DeNoce said.

The contract said applicants had been chosen “primarily on the basis of sexual appeal” and that Palaschak was considering the applicant as a potential girlfriend. By signing the document, the prospective employee gave the attorney the right to make sexual overtures, both physical and verbal. Only one known applicant ever signed the contract, which Palaschak argued was drawn up to protect him from “sexual blackmail.”

The district attorney’s office about a week ago began investigating Palaschak for practicing law while his license is suspended, DeNoce said.

A prospective client tipped off the prosecutor’s office to what Palaschak was doing at that time, he said. The informant was suspicious of Palaschak after visiting his motel-room office he said.

She called the State Bar, which told her Palaschak didn’t have a license to practice. The woman, at that time, contacted the district attorney’s office.

Investigators saw that Palaschak had advertisements in local newspapers offering his service for bankruptcy cases, DeNoce said.

“Actually, it was pretty blatant,” DeNoce said. “We had known his license was suspended because of his previous conviction. He had an advertisement in the paper. So we contacted him as a prospective client.”

Using information obtained by investigators in the district attorney’s office, DeNoce was able to obtain a search warrant for Palaschak’s arrest.

Palaschak was arrested without incident, DeNoce said.