A disbarred California lawyer who owes more than $2 million to the state client security fund can’t discharge the debt after filing for bankruptcy, a federal court ruled before seeking appellate review of this and two other cases.
Penalties owed the government aren’t dischargeable under federal law, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California said Monday.
And the debt Anthony Kassas owes to the Client Security Fund “is a penalty imposed in furtherance of the State’s interest in punishing and rehabilitating errant attorneys, rather than compensation for actual pecuniary loss,” which would be dischargeable, the court said. ...