Attorney suspended for rape conviction

A Newport Beach attorney who was recently suspended from the state bar after being convicted as a sex offender has 30 days to notify his clients, other attorneys and pay back any money he hasn’t earned, according to state bar documents.

Paul Etan Fisher, 50, was convicted of lewd acts upon a 15-year-old girl in October and sentenced to a year in jail and five years of formal probation. More than two months later, on Dec. 27, the State Bar of California suspended Fisher from practicing law.

The felony conviction was just the latest on a growing pile of misconduct by Fisher, according to documents made available by the state bar.

The bar put Fisher on probation in 2007 after it concluded he was filing court motions without merit and entering into improper business agreements with his clients. In 2008, Fisher was reprimanded for bouncing thousands of dollars in checks and using his practice’s bank accounts for personal expenses.

In October, Fisher was convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl in a local hotel.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Birney said the girl was “fall-down drunk,” after attending a wedding with family. She, her sister and mother arrived back at the hotel and got separated, Birney said.

Somehow from there, Fisher got his hands on the heavily-intoxicated girl and raped her. Family called police and hotel security to find her and she eventually turned back up in the room, Birney said.

Attempts to reach Fisher’s attorney Thursday were unsuccessful.

Fisher was convicted of rape by use of drugs, oral copulation by a controlled substance, lewd acts upon a 15-year-old and unlawful sexual intercourse.

He faced up to 11 years and eight months in prison but the court offered him a lighter sentence.

Birney said the court considered that Fisher has no prior criminal history. If he violates probation after he’s released from jail in a year, he will automatically have to serve the 11 years, Birney said.

“He took advantage of the situation and advantage of a human being,” he added.