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BACKGROUND

A. Background of the Underlying Litigation

Plaintiff is the niece of the late Charlotte Willett (Willett), owner of real property

in the city of Bishop, Inyo County, California. Defendant is Willett’s son, who is

homeless and lacks a source of income. In June 2008, Willett established a living trust,

“Charlotte A. Willett Trust dated June 14, 2008,” (Trust) into which Willett transferred

the real property. At the time, Willett was not in communication with defendant; Willett

wanted to transfer her real and personal property to defendant but wanted him to be clean

of drugs and alcohol first.

All further rule references are to the California Rules of Professional Conduct, which incorporated the American Bar Association (ABA) model rule 1.18, although the concepts of the ABA rule are spread out over several rules (rules 1.7-1.9, & 1.18).

2 Until 2013, Willett had rented out her property and resided in a mobile home. The

renters had mistreated Willet’s property, requiring extensive repairs and work. At

plaintiff’s suggestion, Willett sold the mobile home and resumed residence in her

property. Plaintiff offered to help Willett with the cost of repairs in…