An East Bay lawyer who is in the midst of disbarment proceedings testified at a State Bar Court hearing in San Francisco today that she is seeking to resign from the bar.
State Bar spokeswoman Laura Ernde confirmed that Lorna Brown, 67, of Berkeley, has submitted a letter resigning from the practice of law. But Ernde said that the California Supreme Court’s approval is needed when a lawyer seeks to resign during disbarment proceedings.
Brown’s disciplinary trial continued this morning after her testimony and is expected to end today.
The State Bar is seeking to revoke her law license because she smuggled documents and a letter out of an Oakland triple-murder defendant’s jail cell in 2010 and then lied about her actions to investigators.
Brown has admitted to those charges, and the purpose of the disciplinary trial was to determine whether she should be disbarred or merely suspended from law practice.
At the close of her testimony today, Brown said she has sent a letter of resignation and said, “I intended to resign,” but gave no further details.
The triple-murder defendant was Yusuf Bey IV, who was convicted in 2011 of three counts of murder for ordering the killings of journalist Chauncey Bailey and two other men in Oakland in 2007.
Julia Cheever, Bay City News
