SIMI VALLEY : State Bar Suspends Attorney for 90 Days

A Simi Valley attorney has been suspended from the practice of law for 90 days for mishandling client funds and failing to communicate with a client.

Douglas Allen Demaret, 48, also was placed on three years’ probation, the State Bar of California announced this week.

The announcement said Demaret was hired in 1986 to represent a client in two personal-injury cases. The attorney received two settlement checks amounting to about $3,500 but did not promptly turn the funds over to his client, the State Bar said.

In another case in 1987, Demaret agreed to represent a client in a personal-injury claim, the State Bar said. Without advising his client, Demaret rejected a $2,000 settlement offer and failed to file a lawsuit within the period specified by law, according to the State Bar. For eight months in 1989, Demaret also failed to respond to his client’s inquiries about the case.

In mitigation, the State Bar said Demaret had acted on the erroneous beliefs that his client did not want to settle and that a lawsuit had been filed. The attorney also had been distracted by the deaths of his parents during the period, the State Bar said. Demaret had no prior record of discipline and cooperated in the investigation, according to the State Bar.

The State Bar also noted, however, that the second client had been seriously harmed by Demaret’s failure to file suit.

Demaret did not return phone calls seeking comment.