Redondo Beach Councilman Facing State Bar Disciplinary Hearing

REDONDO BEACH, CA -- City Councilman Zein Obagi is scheduled to face a disciplinary hearing next week after being charged with seven counts of misconduct by the California State Bar Association.

Obagi, a lawyer who represents the Fourth District, has denied all charges.

The hearing is set for Sept. 27 and could possibly lead to Obagi being barred from practicing law. The charges stem from a $710,000 Los Angeles County Superior Court judgment that was issued in March against Obagi in favor of a former client.

According to a report in the Easy Reader News, the State Bar’s charges against Obagi stem from his representation of two partners in a marijuana dispensary business. After advising the two on the sale of their business, Obagi received $1.82 million from the buyer.

The Superior Court judgement states that he was expected to disperse $515,000 of this payment to one of the partners. However, the State Bar maintains that Obagi gave the other partner’s new attorney “the approximate sum of $1,828,391.02, less $118,675.86 for attorney’s fees.”

In the event the charges against Obagi are not resolved at the disciplinary hearing, he will face trial in November before State Bar Court Judge Manjari Chawla.

In a response to the State Bar on Aug. 17, through his attorney Erin Joyce, Obagi denied all allegations. Joyce wrote that the “Notice of Disciplinary Charges fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a claim for a violation of Rule of Professional Conduct.”