Kent v. State Bar

Opinion

THE COURT.

In this proceeding we review a recommendation of the Review Department of the State Bar Court that petitioner, Robert C. Kent, be disbarred. He was retained in 1972 to represent plaintiffs in a personal injury action. He applied for a default judgment in 1976, but his dilatory conduct allowed the action to be dismissed in 1979. Meanwhile, he made repeated false representations to his clients that their legal matter was progressing well. In 1983, the clients were awarded a $330,000 default judgment against petitioner for professional negligence, but he then commenced…