Bar Discloses Probe of Lawyer Named in Wills

The State Bar of California, in a rare public disclosure, said Tuesday that it is investigating an Orange County attorney who prepared numerous wills and trusts making himself the recipient of millions of dollars in cash, stock and real estate.

In a departure from the organization’s policy of refusing comment on such matters, State Bar President Harvey I. Saferstein said that probate lawyer James D. Gunderson, whose offices are in Laguna Hills, is being investigated for receiving substantial bequests from his clients under questionable circumstances, for allegedly taking actions that were not in the best interest of his clients and for potential conflicts of interest.

Saferstein, a partner in the Century City law firm of Irell & Manella, said his decision to confirm that an investigation is under way was “an emergency measure meant to protect the public.” The State Bar customarily refuses to confirm or deny whether a lawyer is under investigation in order to protect that lawyer’s reputation from false accusations, he said.

But that policy can be “waived when there is concern that somebody is doing something that is larger than the particular complaint indicates,” Haferstein said.

Saferstein said the State Bar, which is legally charged with disciplining lawyers in California, had received many calls asking if officials contemplated any action against Gunderson.

Despite a longstanding California Supreme Court ruling that anything more than a “modest” gift from a client’s estate to an attorney raises questions of impropriety, the Times investigation revealed that Gunderson had arranged to inherit millions from his elderly clients.

Gunderson has generally denied any wrongdoing, and has declined to comment on specific gifts, acquisitions or inheritances he has received from his clients. His attorney did not return a telephone call seeking comment Tuesday on the State Bar’s action, and a woman who answered the telephone at Gunderson’s San Juan Capistrano home Tuesday evening said he would have no comment.