PHOENIX – Nov. 3, 2017 – Attorney Gale A. Dean of Tucson was disbarred after declining to defend or contest against the Bar’s Complaint alleging he violated the Rules of Professional Conduct associated with the mismanagement of his client trust account.
On Oct. 30, 2017, the Presiding Disciplinary Judge of the Arizona Supreme Court accepted Dean’s consent to disbarment.
The State Bar’s complaint alleged that while settling personal injury cases, Dean failed to pay medical liens in a timely manner. The complaint specifically alleged that in one case, he failed to pay a medical provider for liens totaling $10,955 on behalf of five clients and that only after the doctor threatened to file a complaint against him with the State Bar did he pay the balance in full—using funds that didn’t originate from his trust account.
The complaint also alleged that Dean provided financial assistance to a client in connection with pending litigation; failed to safe keep client property, converted client funds, commingled client funds, and misappropriated client funds; deposited his own funds into his client trust account; failed to promptly deliver client funds; and engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
Gale A. Dean’s disbarment was effective Oct. 30, 2017.