Even though a medical marijuana dispensary violates federal law, it still has the right to recover money stolen from it by an attorney, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled.
The San Francisco Chronicle's Bob Egelko reports that the now-defunct Northbay Wellness Group of Santa Rose can seek to reclaim its $25,000 stolen by now-disbarred attorney Michael Beyries. Beyries has declared bankruptcy, and the former lawyer argued that Northbay had "unclean hands" and couldn't assert its rights to recovery against Beyries' bankruptcy estate.
The unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit disagreed. According to Egelko, the court opined that, “'Allowing Beyries to avoid through bankruptcy his responsibility for misappropriating his client’s money would undermine the public interest in holding attorneys to high ethical standards.'”
Lawyer and Legal Journalist
