California Wheelchair Hustler Disbarred

One of California’s most notoriously prolific “frequent filers” of ginned up disability-access lawsuits has finally been disbarred.

As reported by the North County Times, the California State Bar acted against attorney Theodore Pinnock “after he pleaded no contest in an administrative court . . . to charges that he ‘committed an act of moral turpitude’ by misappropriating funds set aside for one of his clients, a disabled child . . . .

“He also pleaded no contest in a separate case alleging that he filed a number of cases on behalf of a disabled client who had no idea the cases had been filed,” Times’ coverage continued.  “The state also said that Pinnock did not give that client all of the money owed her from settlements in those cases.”

California resturant owners and other small-business entrepreneurs who are most frequently targeted by these lawsuits that seek to exploit both the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and California’s Unruh Act are relieved to know at least one of these infamous wheelchair hustlers has been sidelined for good.

But there are plenty of other morally-challenged shysters just like Pinnock still working the racket.  Which is why everyone concerned should contact Gov. Jerry Brown‘s office in Sacramento — by phone (916.445.2841) or email — to urge him to sign an important, bipartisan reform bill sent to his desk by the Legislature earlier this month.  The governor has until the end of September to sign or kill the bill.