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California Legal Ethics Keyed to Wydick, 12th Ed.
Drociak v. State Bar of California
Citation:
52 Cal. 3d 1085, 278 Cal. Rptr. 86, 804 P.2d 711 (1991)Facts
Joseph Drociak was retained by Jane House in March 1985 to represent her in a personal injury action against Greyhound Bus Lines. Following his regular practice, Drociak had House sign several undated, blank verification forms. After filing the complaint in March 1986, Drociak received discovery requests from Greyhound but was unable to contact House despite multiple attempts. Without House’s knowledge, Drociak answered the interrogatories himself and attached one of House’s pre-signed verifications. He did the same for document production responses. When Drociak failed to appear for trial in November 1986, the case was dismissed. Later, House’s husband informed Drociak that House had died in October 1985, a fact Drociak claimed he was unaware of when he submitted the verified discovery responses. Notably, opposing counsel knew of House’s death in July 1986 but did not inform Drociak or the court.
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