Disciplinary Case Summaries
| Publication year | 2022 |
| Pages | 64 |
August, 2022
FROM THE COURTS OFFICE OF THE PRESIDING DISCIPLINARY JUDGE
No. 22PDI034. Steven Charles Bachar.
6/16/2022. Stipulation to Discipline.
The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved the parties' stipulation to discipline and disbarred Steven Charles Bachar (attorney registration number 31861), effective August 1, 2022.
In January 2021, a court entered default judgment against Bachar's business, Empowerment Health LLC (Empowerment), in a civil case that included claims for breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. The plaintiff brought the claims after Empowerment failed to honor a purchase order with the plaintiff for N95 masks and thereafter refused to return the plaintiff's initial payment for the masks. The court awarded the plaintiff damages of $700,000, plus interest and attorney fees. Bachar has not yet paid the awarded amount.
In another civil case involving other plaintiffs, Bachar and Empowerment defaulted on claims that included conversion and civil theft of more than SI million in Federal Emergency Management Agency-reimbursable funds paid to Empowerment by the State of Wisconsin. Bachar and Empowerment had agreed to transfer the funds to the plaintiffs as reimbursement for personal protective equipment that the plaintiffs had procured for and delivered to Wisconsin under an emergency purchase order during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds were also meant to finance the acquisition and delivery of additional equipment to complete the emergency purchase order. In May 2021, the court entered a default judgment against Empowerment and against Bachar personally, resulting in their liability for nearly $4 million, which Bachar has not paid.
Through this conduct, Bachar violated Colo. RPC 8.4(c) (it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation).
No. 22PDI031. Thomas Joseph Burke.
6/6/2022. Stipulation to Discipline.
The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved the parties' stipulation to discipline and suspended Thomas Joseph Burke (attorney registration number 33090) for six months, during which he must attend ethics school. If Burke wishes to be reinstated to the practice of law, he must petition for reinstatement under CRCP 242.39. The suspension was effective on lune 6, 2022.
In September 2019, a client hired Burke to...
To continue reading
Request your trial