Las Vegas lawyer Brian Bloomfield faces loss of license

The State Bar of Nevada has filed documents seeking to take away the license of suspended defense lawyer Brian Bloomfield for his central role in a courthouse counseling scheme.

Bloomfield pleaded guilty in the scheme in December 2013 and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors against his co-defendants. He is waiting to be sentenced.

Bloomfield was charged with providing prostitutes and other defendants with phony certificates of completion for court-ordered counseling and community service to resolve misdemeanor cases in Las Vegas Justice Court. He was later charged with destroying client files to cover his actions.

“The facts are undisputed and conclusive,” State Bar Counsel David Clark said in documents filed with his organization late Tuesday. “Respondent’s admitted misconduct was intentional, calculated, dishonest and criminal. And it strikes at the heart of what lawyers do and the essence of our legal system … There can be no appropriate sanction other than disbarment.”

Clark is prosecuting the case against Bloomfield, who is to appear before a State Bar disciplinary committee in Las Vegas on June 19.

Bloomfield’s lawyer, William Terry, said Wednesday he is preparing a written response to Clark.

“We certainly don’t agree that disbarment is appropriate in this case,” Terry said. “Nothing that Mr. Bloomfield did benefited himself, and that’s the big difference between the cases the Bar is citing and what our position is.”

Any sanctions the disciplinary panel recommends will have to be approved by the Nevada Supreme Court, which suspended Bloomfield a year ago.

Earlier this year, Clark filed a complaint against Bloomfield stemming from his decision to plead guilty to four criminal charges, including two felonies.

Bloomfield, who had been practicing criminal law in Nevada since 2003, violated nearly a dozen State Bar rules of conduct, including one that involves a lawyer’s “honesty, trustworthiness or fitness to practice,” the complaint alleged.

In his latest legal papers, Clark said Bloomfield filed or helped file forged records in 91 cases that falsely claimed a client had completed counseling or community service.

“When a lawyer engages in intentional deception of the court, he violates the most fundamental duty of an officer of the court,” Clark wrote.

Though he pleaded guilty 15 months ago, Bloomfield has not been sentenced because he agreed to testify against the other defendants, one of whom is still waiting trial.

The criminal case dates to December 2011, when Bloomfield, former counseling service owner Steven Brox and juvenile probation officer Robert Chiodini were charged in a 52-count indictment with carrying out the scheme.

Weeks later, Bloomfield’s wife, Amber McDearmon, and former bail bondsman Thomas Jaskol were charged in a new indictment alleging they conspired with Bloomfield to destroy evidence.

All but Brox eventually pleaded guilty. He is to stand trial Sept. 8.

Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ