Attorney Concealed Disbarment

Attorney Douglas J. McDougall was disbarred nearly two years ago, but that hasn’t kept the Antelope Valley lawyer from practicing, state bar officials say.

Even after he was ordered by the state Supreme Court on July 16, 1996 to stop working as a lawyer, McDougall continued to take cases, said Anne Charles, a spokeswoman for the State Bar of California.

McDougall “continued to hold himself out as an attorney licensed to practice in California, took fees from clients and represented them in legal matters as their counsel after he was . . . disbarred,” according to court papers.

At a hearing in state Superior Court on May 19, McDougall, 37, of Palmdale, was found to be in contempt of court and fined $750, court records show.

State Bar officials said they became aware that McDougall was still practicing law after a dissatisfied client lodged a complaint in October 1997. The ensuing investigation revealed that McDougall had been disbarred more than a year earlier after he allowed the statute of limitations to expire in a dental malpractice case without filing suit, bar officials said.

In that case, McDougall also failed to communicate with his client and intentionally misrepresented the status of the case to his client, bar officials said.

“When he spoke to his client, McDougall told her five different versions of the status of the case, each one untrue,” according to a bar report.

In another matter, McDougall agreed to buy a car for $6,500. He wrote a check for $2,000 on an account that had been closed four months earlier, never reimbursed the seller or made any subsequent payments and never returned the car, the report said.

McDougall could not be reached for comment.

“It helps to alert clients that their lawyer has a problem,” Charles said. “We see this as an essential public service.”

Some 77 attorneys were disbarred in 1997, according to state bar records.

Haynes is a Times staff writer and Satzman is a correspondent.