A Costa Mesa-based attorney convicted of statutory rape faces disbarment, officials said Wednesday.
James Mazi Parsa was convicted in 2001 of having sex with a 17-year-old employee, according to the State Bar of California. He has been on suspension since October 2009 pending a hearing for the appropriate discipline for the sex crime, according to the bar.
A State Bar Court hearing judge found that the 50-year-old attorney abandoned 43 clients and failed to return their fees of more than $120,000, according to the bar.
Parsa also kept taking on clients even though he was aware that his attorney’s license was about to be suspended for the criminal conviction, the bar reported.
The state Supreme Court has the final say on disbarment. The disbarment recommendation stems from the way he suddenly closed his Costa Mesa practice when he was put on interim suspension in 2009, the bar reported.
At the time, Parsa had about 4,500 clients and 100 employees that primarily handled loan modification cases. Forty-three of his clients were named in the decision against Parsa, but another 1,130 have filed complaints against him, according to the bar.
— City News Service