San Francisco attorney faces ethics charges after awarding himself $1.3M in trust fees
A San Francisco lawyer faces disciplinary action for overcharging a trust account client by $1.33 million, the California State Bar said Friday.
The Office of Chief Trial Counsel said it plans to seek disbarment of Drexel Andrew Bradshaw because he previously breached his fiduciary duties with another trust client in 2017.
The bar filed the latest charges in State Bar Court on Feb. 2, accusing Bradshaw of professional misconduct and ethical breaches in overcharging a client with mental health and other issues, the state bar said.
"Bradshaw awarded himself $1.33 million in fees without authorization, which represented 53 percent of the entire $2.5 million trust he was hired to assist with," the state bar said. "This included advance fees that increased from an agreed-upon $7,500, to a never-approved $750,000 — fees that were 'wholly disproportionate to the services rendered so as to shock the conscience.'"